Early in May 1863, gen. Hooker, who had succeeded gen. Burnside in the command of the army of the Potomac, crossed the Rappahannock, and was defeated by gen. Lee at Cimicellorsville with great slaughter; but this victory was dearly bought by the loss of gen. Jackson, mortally wounded in mistake by his own soldiers. Gen. Lee now took the offensive. and invaded Pennsylvania, advancing as far as Harrisburg; hut being met by gen. Meade, the new commander of the army of the Potomac, he attacked him in a strong position at Gettysburg without success, and was compelled to rocrose the Potomac. In the mean time, the two principal fortresses of the Mississippi, Vicks burg and Port Hudson, attacked by land and water, after a long siege, were starred into capitulation, and the entire river was open to federal gun-boats. Charleston, blockaded since the beginning of the war, was now strongly besieged—its outworks, forts Gregg and Wagner, taken, fort Sumter battered in pieces, but still held as an earthwork, and shells thrown a distance of 5 tn. into the inhabited part of the city. In September, gen. Rosencranz had taken the strong position of Chattanooga, and pene trated into the n.w. corner of Georgia, where he was disastrously defeated by gen. Bragg at the battle of Chickamauga. At this period, there were great peace-meetings in the north, terrible riots in New York against the conscription and the negroes; while the banks having suspended specie payments, the paper-money of both federals and confederates was largely depreciated. The confederates were, however, cut off from all foreign aid, except what came to them through the blockade, and their own resources, both of men and material, were becoming exhausted. The railways were worn, many destroyed or occupied by the federals, and it became difficult to transport supplies and feed armies. The federals had command of the sea, and access to all the markets of Europe.
At the commencement of 1864, the federals held, including the garrisons on the Mississippi, nearly 100,000 prisoners of war. The southerners also had about 40,000 federal prisoners, whom they could feed with difficulty, and who suffered great hard ships. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who had been successful at Vicksburg, was appointed commander-in-chief of the federal armies, and commenced a vigorous campaign over au immense area—in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Louisiana, and Arkansas, with the determination "to hammer continuously against the armed forces of the enemy and his resources, until by mere attrition he should be forced to submit." Of the con federates, gen. Lee defended Petersburg and Richmond; gen. J. E. Johnston opposed the army of Tennessee at Dalton, Georgia; gen. Forrest was in Mississippi; gen. Taylor and Kirby Smith commanded in Louisiana and Arkansas, In February, gen. Sherman marched from Vicksburg, making a destructive raid across northern Mississippi to Alabama. In March, the federals had 1,000,000 of men raised and provided for. The entire confederate forces probably numbered 250,000. The army of the Potomac, com manded by gen. Meade, under the personal superintendence of gen. Grant,• covered Washington, and advanced toward Richmond, geu. Butler advanced from fortress
Monroe up the James river: gen. Sigel marched up the Shenandoah. Sherman united the armies of Tennessee, Cumberland, and Ohio, at Chattanooga, where he had nearly 100,000 men and 250 guns. Gen. Banks had 61,000 men in Louisiana. In March gen. Banks moved up the Red river, toward Shreveport, but was defeated on the 24th, and driven back to New Orleans. In May, the campaign of Virginia commenced, and the army of the Potomac fought a series of battles at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania court house, Jericho's ford, North Anna, and Cold harbor, with terrible losses. After each repulse the federals took up a new position further s., with a new base, until they had made half the circuit of the confederate capital. Gen. Breckenridge defeated Sigel in the Shenandoah valley, and once morn threatened Washington. Gen. Sheridan, with a strong cavalry force, drove back the confederates, and laid waste the valley. In September, gen. Sherman advancing with a superior force, captured Atlanta. Gen. Hood, superseding Johnston in the command of the confederates, was out-generaled and beaten. While he marched w. to cut off Sherman's base, and attack Nashville, where he was defeated, Sherman burned Atlanta, destroyed the railway, and marched boldly through Georgia to Savannah. The confederates made strong efforts, and won victories, but with no permanent result.
In 1865, the federals made a new draft for 500,000 men. Expeditions were organized against Mobile. Wilmington, the most important confederate port, was taken by a naval and military expedition. Savannah and Charleston, approached in the rear by Sherman, were evacuated. Cavalry raids cut off the railways and canal that supplied the confederate army in Petersburg and Richmond. Finally, on Mar. 29, '65, a series of assaults was made upon the confederate works, during ten days of almost continual lighting, until the confederates were worn down with fatigue. Richmond and Peters burg were evacuated April 2; and on the 9th, after several conflicts, gen. Lee surrendered at Appomator court-house, his army numbering 28,000. At this period, it is said that there was not lead enough remaining in the confederate states to fight a single battle. On the 12th, Mobile surrendered with 3,000 prisoners and 300 guns. Then gen, John ston, in North Carolina, surrendered a few days after to gen. Sherman; and the trans Mississippi confederate army followed his example.
The war was scarcely ended, when 800,000 men were paid off. During the war, tbe number of men called for by the federal government was 2,759,049; the number actually furnished was 2,653,062. Of colored troops there were 186,097. The state of New York, with a pop. of less than 4,000,000, sent 223,836 volunteers. There was an annual waste of one-third, half of which was by wounds in battle. The federal losses during the war were estimated at 316,000. The statistics of the confederate forces are imper fect; but in 1864, the army consisted of 20,000 artillery, 128,000 cavalry, 400,951 infantry; total, 549,226 men. The confederate losses are unknown.