After listening to the account of what had happened at Five Forks that day—“to the description of Sheridan's day's work,” as noted by Colonel Porter—General Grant walked into his tent to write several field dispatches, which were telegraphed to all commands. After handing his messages to an orderly, the general rejoined the group and calmly announced, “I have ordered a general assault along the lines.”10 The attack was scheduled for four o'clock the next morning. Colonel Porter noted that Grant gave the order, “as coolly as if remarking about the weather.”
General Grant's idea was to have all commands move against the Confederate lines as quickly as possible, to prevent General Lee from withdrawing troops from Petersburg and sending them against General Sherman. He sent another dispatch at 9:30 p.m., adding that he wanted the artillery to support the attack and that he would let the troops “attack in their own way.”11
His commanders replied with enthusiasm. General Ord said that he would go into the enemy's works “as a hot knife goes through butter,” and General Horatio Wright of the Sixth Corps responded that he would “make the fur fly.”12 General Grant was encouraged by the enthusiasm of his generals. He went to bed just after midnight—“the general soon tucked himself into his camp-bed, and was soon sleeping as peacefully as if the next day was to be devoted to a picnic instead of a decisive battle.”
General Grant could afford a good night's sleep. Shortly before going to bed, he sent a report on General Philip Sheridan's activities. “He has carried everything before him,” Grant telegraphed, “he has captured three brigades of infantry and a train of wagons and is now pushing up his success.”13 It looked as though the morning's coming general offensive would bring another day of triumph and achievement. “I have ordered everything else to advance and prevent a concentration of the enemy against Sheridan.” There did not seem to be any reason for Grant to lose any sleep.
President Lincoln, on the other hand, did not have General Grant's calm and steady temperament. If Grant's planned offensive succeeded, it would mean the end of the war; he realized that, but it would also mean more dead and wounded and more killing. The fact that his son Robert was a member of Grant's staff probably added to the president's apprehensions. He spent most of the day at City Point's telegraph office, reading messages from the front and forwarding some of them along either to Secretary Stanton or Secretary Seward in Washington.
Toward the end of the day, Lincoln returned to the River Queen. “There his anxiety became more intense.”14 His bodyguard, William Crook, wrote that the president could hear cannon fire from “not many miles away,” discharging their salvoes into the Confederate positions southwest of Petersburg. After the sun went down, he could also see the muzzle flashes.
The firing kept Lincoln awake all night. He refused to go to his cabin, and would not even consider getting some much-needed sleep. “Almost all night he walked up and down the deck, pausing now and then to listen or to look out into the darkness to see if he could see anything.”15 The president's nerves were even more on edge than usual. “I have never seen such suffering in the face of any man as was in his that night.” And the morning promised to bring another full day of fighting.
The very first telegram President Lincoln sent on this Sunday morning was to his wife Mary, which gives some idea of how concerned he must have been about her well-being. The message was mainly a summary of the fighting that had taken place during the past twenty-four or so hours. He summarized General Grant's telegraph of the night before, stating that General Sheridan had captured three brigades of infantry, and went on to quote the general's communiqué of earlier that morning: “The battle now rages furiously. Sheridan with his Cavalry, the 5th Corps & [Nelson A.] Miles Division of the 2nd Corps, which was sent to him since 1 this A.M. is now sweeping down from the West.”1 Lincoln ended on a personal note: “Robert yesterday wrote a little cheerful note to Capt. Penrose, which is all I have heard from him since you left.”
Mary Lincoln arrived in Washington that morning, aboard the steamer Monohasset, and found her husband's message waiting for her. She was undoubtedly glad to be back “home,” or at least to be away from City Point. But she also missed both her husband and her son Tad. Tad would turn twelve years old in a few days, on April 4, and Mary liked celebrating her children's birthdays with parties and gifts.
Later in the morning, the president sent word to Secretary of War Stanton: “Dispatches frequently coming in,” including from Gen. Grant. Grant's message advised that forces under Horatio Wright had gone through the enemy's line, and that “I do not see how the portion of the rebel army south of where Wright broke through…are to escape.”2 Lincoln's telegraph to Stanton reflected Grant's enthusiasm. “All going finely. Parke, Wright, and Ord…have all broken through the enemy's intrenched lines, taking some forts, guns, and prisoners.” Three hours later, he sent Secretary Stanton a few more details, which was also more good news. “Everything has been carried from the left of the Ninth Corps,” he wrote. “We are now closing around the works of the line immediately enveloping Petersburg.”
Grant's attack did not begin at 4:00 a.m., as had been originally planned. It had to be postponed because of darkness—the sun had not yet come up, and it was too dark to see. There were too many trenches, rifle pits, parapets, and other obstacles to be either gone through or gone around, and “a little daylight would be of material assistance.”3 But at 4:45, there was enough light in the sky for the charge to begin. “The thunder of hundreds of guns shook the ground like an earthquake, and soon the troops were engaged all along the lines,” is how Colonel Horace Porter described the opening of the attack. General Grant was soon sending his own descriptions of what was happening, and President Lincoln devoured every word at City Point's telegraph office.
As soon as there was enough daylight for the men to see where they were going, the artillery stopped firing and the infantry began climbing out of their trenches. They did not advance very far before running head on into a solid line of Confederate musket fire. Muzzle flashes lit up the earthworks from end to end. General Horatio Wright's Sixth Corps lost over one thousand men in about fifteen minutes. John G. Parke's Ninth Corps lost about the same number of men in the same amount of time. Veterans remembered Cold Harbor during the previous June, when thousands of Federal troops had been shot down in a headlong charge against the enemy's fortifications.
But Petersburg was not Cold Harbor, and April 1865 was not June 1864. Federal troops moved forward so quickly that some Confederates only had time to fire one volley before abandoning their trenches and running toward the rear. The blue infantry overran the enemy's lines and kept going, chasing the enemy and taking prisoners. At least one unit captured a line of earthworks and remained in them, breaking the Confederate line.
Not very long after the attack began, Grant's headquarters received a communiqué from General Wright: his Sixth Corps had cracked the enemy's line of defenses and was moving forward. General Parke sent a similar message a short while later, reporting that he had captured eight hundred prisoners, twelve artillery pieces, and a line of enemy fortifications. But in spite of these losses, the defenders show no signs of giving up.
General Grant watched the battle from a nearby hill. He had a good view of the fighting, but Confederate artillerymen a short distance away also had a good view of him. The enemy gunners fired at him and his observation position, but Grant was so engrossed in watching the fighting that he did not notice—his famous single-mindedness was getting the better of him.
Several staff officers suggested that Grant move someplace else, someplace safer and a lot less conspicuous, but the general paid no attention. He kept on issuing orders and writing dispatches and running the battles from where he was. When he had finished, Grant seemed to notice the artillery fire for the first time. At that point, he finally decided to move off the hill and out of range of the enemy gunners. But he did not move until he was ready—his ability to concentrate on the problem at hand allo
wed him to ignore any and all distractions, including Confederate artillery fire.
General Grant was in a state of excitement and high spirits over what he had seen from his hilltop observation post, as well as over the progress of the day's fighting. He wrote to his wife to describe what was taking place—Julia Grant noted that “I had letters daily from the General, always hopeful.”4 The letter to Julia overflowed with confidence. He explained that he was writing from what had been a Confederate fortification a short time before, which was solidly built and had been heavily defended, and went on to say that he was highly impressed by the fact that his troops had been able to capture it. The general added that he might have more campaigning and fighting ahead of him, but that he hoped that this was not the case.
General Grant sent a telegram to Colonel Theodore S. Bowers, an officer on his staff, which was intercepted and read by President Lincoln at City Point's telegraph office. In his message, Grant said essentially the same thing as he had said to Julia Grant, but his tone was much more “official” and straightforward. “We are now up, and have a continuous line of troops, and in a few hours will be intrenched from the Appomattox, below Petersburg, to the river above.”5 The telegram was received by 4:30 p.m.
The general also explained that two Confederate divisions, Henry Heth's and Cadmus M. Wilcox's divisions, had been isolated—“such part of them as were not captured”—and went on to say that General Sheridan and the Fifth Corps’ cavalry “is above them.”
From President Lincoln's point of view, the second part of Grant's telegram was even better than the first. “The whole captures since the army started out will not amount to less than 12,000 men, and probably 50 pieces of artillery. I do not know the number of men and guns accurately, however.”6 Grant's numbers did not have to be one hundred percent accurate, at least not as far as Lincoln was concerned. The figures showed that the Confederates had suffered a significant setback, which was exactly what Lincoln wanted to hear from his general-in-chief.
“A portion of [Robert S.] Foster's division, Twenty-fourth Corps, made a most gallant charge this afternoon, and captured a very important fort from the enemy, with its entire garrison,” General Grant went on. “All seems well with us, and everything quiet just now.” The president certainly appreciated hearing that “all seems well.” This was the best news that he ever could have hoped for.
Lincoln forwarded Grant's telegram along to Secretary of War Stanton, with an added note: “At 4:30 p.m. to-day General Grant telegraphed as follows.” But the president did not include the last line of Grant's telegram: “I think the president might come out and pay us a visit to-morrow.”7
At 8:15 p.m., Lincoln sent this message to General Grant: “Lieut. General Grant, Allow me to tender you, and all with you, the nations [sic] grateful thanks for this additional, and magnificent, success.”8 He completed his short message by advising the general, “At your kind suggestion, I think I will visit you tomorrow.”
The president also sent another message to his wife later in the day, and was just as cheerful and optimistic as he had been in his earlier telegram. He addressed the wire to “Mrs. Lincoln,” and reported that General Grant “has Petersburg completely enveloped.”9 The message went on to say, “He [General Grant] suggests that I shall go out and see him in the morning, which I think I will.” Lincoln concluded on a personal note, “Tad and I are both well, and we will be glad to see you and your party here at the time you name.” Apparently Mrs. Lincoln was planning to return to City Point, possibly for Tad's birthday, but these plans were not carried out.
General Robert E. Lee had been sending telegrams as well, but his were just the opposite of President Lincoln's enthusiastic messages. He sent this grim communiqué to President Jefferson Davis in Richmond: “I think it absolutely necessary that we should abandon our position tonight,” he began, and went on to advise President Davis to evacuate Richmond.10 He was sending an officer to Richmond “to explain the routes to you by which the troops will be moved to Amelia Court House, and furnish you with a guide and any assistance that you may require for yourself.”
General Lee sent another telegram, this one to General John C. Breckenridge, the Confederate Secretary of War, that was even more stark and depressing. “I see no prospect of doing more than holding our position here till night,” he began.11 “I am not certain I can do that…. Enemy have broken through our lines.” He did not even try to be tactful or diplomatic; he said exactly what was on his mind. “Our only chance, then, of concentrating our forces is to do so near Danville Railroad, which I shall endeavor to do at once. I advise that all preparations be made for leaving Richmond to-night.”
For General Lee, the situation was every bit as bad as he had stated in his telegrams. The Petersburg lines had been captured, which made the Confederate position untenable. Colonel Horace Porter gave the Federal point of view in his own assessment, which was in total agreement with General Lee. “By noon all the outer works were in our possession, except two strong redoubts which occupied a commanding position,” he wrote.12 The two forts were taken later in the day.
As he had done at Fort Stedman in March, President Lincoln decided to ride out to the battlefield and see some of the fighting for himself. “We rode out to the intrenchments, close to the battleground,” his bodyguard, William H. Crook, wrote.13 “Mr. Lincoln watched the life-and-death struggle for some time, and then returned to City Point.” Later in the day, the president received General Grant's telegram giving the number of prisoners and artillery pieces that had been captured. “The news made the President happy,” Crook recalled. “He said to Captain Penrose that the end of the war was now in sight.”
About twenty-four hours earlier, as the president watched artillery fire from the deck of the River Queen, Crook had been moved to comment on the suffering and the sadness he saw in Lincoln's face. But the results of this Sunday's fighting had brought the war a giant step closer to the end, and had also brought a substantial change in Lincoln's outlook and demeanor: “He could go to bed and sleep now. I remember how cheerful was his ‘Good-night, Crook.’”14
General Grant was just as optimistic concerning the results of the day's efforts. He also realized that the end of the war was now in sight. At the end of the day, several “prominent” officers suggested that he should order an attack of the Petersburg trenches immediately, to break through the inner defenses and capture the city before nightfall. But General Grant rejected the idea. “He said the city would undoubtedly be evacuated during the night,” and that “he was firm in his resolve not to sacrifice the lives necessary to accomplish such a result.”15 Another attack, which would have meant another several thousand killed and wounded, would be unnecessary. President Lincoln would have been in full agreement with this line of thinking.
President Lincoln was up early, and received the news that General Grant had guessed correctly—Petersburg had been evacuated during the night. General Parke had gone through the inner defenses at 4:00 a.m., and the city had surrendered at 4:38. In a communique that was typical of him, straightforward and to the point, Grant had immediately telegraphed the news to Colonel Theodore S. Bowers: “Petersburg was evacuated last night. Pursuit will be immediately made.”1
The general sent another telegram to Colonel Bowers a short while afterward. This message was mainly concerned with President Lincoln's impending visit. “Say to the President that an officer and escort will attend him, but as to myself I start toward the Danville Road with the army.” His explanation was, “I want to cut off as much of Lee's army as possible.”2 But Grant would change his mind and would decide to stay in Petersburg and wait for the president to arrive.
Lincoln wired Secretary of War Stanton at 8:00 a.m. to relay the good news regarding Petersburg, as well as to inform Stanton of his own plans. “This morning Gen. Grant reports Petersburg evacuated; and he is confident Richmond also is. He is pushing forward to cut off, if possible, the retreating army.” He ended the message wi
th, “I start to him in a few minutes.”3
Secretary Stanton was very much taken by surprise to hear that President Lincoln would be joining Grant later that day. He congratulated the president on the “glorious news” regarding Petersburg, but also “respectfully” asked Lincoln to consider “whether you ought to expose the nation to the consequence of any disaster to yourself in the pursuit of a treacherous and dangerous enemy like the rebel army.”4 He reminded the president that “Commanding generals are in the line of their duty in running such risks. But is the political head of a nation in the same condition?”
President Lincoln did not pay any attention to Secretary Stanton's advice—he certainly did not think that he would get himself assassinated by visiting General Grant, which he had done before—and boarded a special train for Patrick Station, which was about a mile from Petersburg. Admiral David Dixon Porter, Tad Lincoln, and Commander John S. Barnes accompanied the president. Admiral Porter borrowed a horse from a cavalryman and rode from the rail station to Petersburg, while Lincoln and Tad rode by ambulance into the city.
Commander Barnes decided to walk the distance; as he approached the city on foot, he was greatly impressed by the trenches and barricades that had defended its approaches during the siege. He had heard about them, but this was the first time he had the chance to inspect them. The defenses were made up of a “labyrinth” of trenches, breastworks, rifle pits, and earthworks that went on for miles. “They were very elaborate with zigzag approaches and connections dug deep into the ground.”5 He wondered how anyone was able to capture such a line of elaborate and well-built fortifications.
The Last Weeks of Abraham Lincoln Page 13