In the west, during 1S03, Memphis and Vicksburg had fallen, the latter almost at the moment of the decisive victory of Gettysburg. and gen. Grant, in command of the army of the Mississippi, was beginning, to achieve his position as the leading soldier of the war. Gen. Morgan was raiding in Indiana; Rosecrans had driven the confederates under ;rem Braga: from middle Tennessee, and over the Cumberland mountains; the federals had been defeated at Chickamauga, and the rebels at Lookout mountain and Missionary ridge; and the union forces held Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, a large part of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida, and the Rio Grande frontier of Texas, and had control of the Mississippi river. A draft in the northern states for 300,000 men, with an exemption clause, had added 50,000 Merl to the union armies, and the sum of $10,518,000 available for bounties.
The year 1864 opened with a slight advantage on the side of the confederates. Cer tain Red river expeditions under Bens. Banks and A. J. Smith proved disastrous to the federal forces engaged, admiral Porter being in danger of losing his fleet below Shreve Farragut with gen. Butler had captured New Orleans in the spring of 1862—a brilliant naval achievement; the latter had also taken Natchez; and in 1864, Far-, raglit rounded off his career of splendid service in the war by reducing the forts at the entrance of Mobile bay, and destroying the confederate fleet. Gen. Grant had been made lieut.gen. and commander-in-chief in March (1864); had turned over his command in the west to Sherman, and taken command of the army of the Potomac; and now a combined movement against the confederates, east and west, was to be made under the personal direction of these two great generals. Sherman's army was in motion from Chattandoza by May 7, and forced gen. Johnston and afterward gen. Hood through Georgia, as far as Atlanta, defeating the confederates at every point. A siege of the for tifications of Atlanta, which lasted two months, finally placed Sherman in possession of that city. In the meantime the army of the Potomac, with gen. Meade in immediate command, had broken camp on the Rapidan, and undertaken the tremendous campaign of the Wilderness," with the design of forcing the fighting straight to Richmond. During this campaign of 43 days, more than 100,000 men on each side, with constant re-enforcements, were engaged almost continuously in the battle of Spotsylvania court house, the sharp engagements on the North Anna, and the disastrous defeat of the union army at Cold Harbor, until, on the night of June 12, the army of the Potomac crossed the Clickahominy and took pcx.ition on the s. side of the James river. The design of this movement was to threaten Richmond by way of Petersburg, and to thwart it. Lee at once threw a large portion of his army within the defenses of the latter city, which proved to be impregnable to assault, and only to ,be reduced by regular approaches and a skillful siege. While this siege was being conducted, gen. Sherman had made Inc now celebrated "march to the sea," carrying his compact army of 60,000 men from Atlanta through the heart of Georgia, leaving the former city on Nov. 15, and reaching S.wannall on Dec. 10; carrying fort McAllister by assault on the 13th, and occupying Savannah itself on the 20th. While Sherman was thus successful, the confederate gen. Hood had invaded Tennessee, driving the federal forces under gen. Thomas from point to point, until finally himself defeated near Nashville, Dec. 15, with a loss of more than 13,000 prisoners and 72 pieces of artillery.
The presidential election in 1864 found Abraham Lincoln renominated by the repub licans, and gen. McClellan by the democrats. Twenty-five states took part in this elec tion; the electoral vote was 233, of which Lincoln received 212; the popular vote of Lincoln and Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, was 2,223,035, and that of McClellan and Pendleton 1,811,714. During December and January gen.-Shcrman had remianed in
Savannah, resting his troops; but on Feb. 1, 1865, he again took the field. Marching through South Carolina, he took possession of Columbia; and on time following day, Feb. 18. Charleston surrendered to the union force under gen. Gillmote, which had been engaged in the siege of that city since July 10, 1863, during wide]) time it had been under bom bardment 542 days. Sherman now pushed on into North Carolina, while two other minion armies, under Schofield from New Berne. and Terry from Wilmington, co operated with him; the three armies meeting at Goldsborough, N. C., Mar. 22, while gen. J. E. Johnston, with the main army of confederates in that region, was being held at bay at Raleigh. On Mar. 24 gen. Grant issued an order for a combined movement of the armies operating against Richmond, to take place on the 29th. But on the 25th gen. Lee made a desperate attempt to. break through the federal lines on the Appo mattox river, and fort Steedman was captured by the confederates, but soon retaken. April 1 gem. Sheridan defeated the confederates at Five Forks—which protected the South-side railroad, and thereby Lee's connections with Richmond—and captured 6.000 prisoners. This was the, final and irretrievable blow to the confederate army. On the following clay, April 2, gen. Grant attacked' along the whole line in front of Petersburg, and on the evening of that day both Petersburg and Richmond were abandoned. Gen. Lee retreated toward Lynchburg, but was intercepted by Sheridan, and on April 9 surrendered his army to gen. Grant at Appomattox Court-house. Gen. Johnsiton surrendered his army on April 26; on May 4 gen. Taylor surrendered the con federate forces in Alabama to gen. Canby; and the last fight of the war of the rebellion took place May 13, 1865, on the Rio Grande, in Texas, between col. Barrett, in com mand of the federals, and gen. Slaughter, confederate, in which, strangely, the con federates were victorious. The last confederate army in the field—the trans-Missis sippi—was surrendered by Kirby Smith on May 26. The number of union soldiers in the field (luting the war was 2.666,909; the number drafted and held to service being 46.347; furnished substitutes, 73,607; paid commutation, 86,724; total drafted, 206,678, to which should be added 87,588 credited to the states under the draft of 1862; making in all drafted, 294,266. The amount of commutation moneys received by the govern ment was V6,366,316.78; the amount of bounties paid by the U. S. government was $300.223,500; by state and local authorities, V85,941,036. The casualties in the army numbered 280,'739: 5,221 officers and 90,868 men killed in action or died of wounds; and 2,321 officers and 182,329 men died from disease or accident. The entire available force capable of active service 'in the field, enrolled in the confederate armies, was 600,000 men; their entire loss during the war was more than one-half this number.—During the war confederate cruisers, fitted out mostly in British ports, scoured the ocean, doing irreparable damage to the commerce of, the United States. Among these, the most prom inent were the Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Sumter, and Tallahassee. The Alabama, Raphael Semmes commanding, was sunk off Cherbourg. in France, .June 19, 1864, by the U. S. S. Kearsarge, commanded by capt. Winslow. After the evacuation of Richmond, Jefferson Davis, president of the confederacy, fled south, and was captured May 10. 1865, at Irwinsville, Ga., by gen. Wilson's forces, as he was attempting to make his further escape in disguise. In company with certain others of the prominent leaders of the rebellion, he was imprisoned for a time: but no man was eventually punished for participation therein.—The most important political act of the rebellion was the "email cipation proclamation," issued Jan. 1, 1863, which gave freedom to 4,000,000 of slaves. Its most characteristic infamy was the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on the night of April 14, 1865.