The first movements of General Grant, though unsuccessful as to his main design, resulted in crippling the enemy and so preparing the way for final victory: but they were attended with terrible loss of life. The great battle of the Wil derness (q.v.) was fought against General Lee on May 5th-May Gth, and was followed by the bloody engagements at Spottsylvania Court-House. On :June 3d Lee repulsed a tremendous assault of the Union forces at Cold Harbor. General Grant, having failed in his flanking movements, saw at last that his only hope of seizing Richmond de pended upon his first taking Petersburg, and to this object he now addressed himself with his usual pertinacity. Lee attempted to create a diversion by sending Early on a raid across the Potomac. Sherman soon after forced Hood to evacuate Atlanta, and then started on his famous `march to the sea.' Sheridan's victory at Five Forks, March 31-April 1, 1865, destroyed the last hope of a successful defense of Richmond On April 2d Petersburg was abandoned, and on the 3d the Federal forces entered the Southern capi tal, the Confederates fleeing as they advanced. Grant pursued the flying army, overtook and sur rounded it, and forced it to surrender at Appo mattox Court House, on April 9th. Lee was captured, and the Confederacy overthrown.
The assassination of Lincoln and the accession of Andrew Johnson quickly followed, and then came the excitement of the period of Reconstruc tion, in which General Grant, for whom Congress had created the rank of General of the Army, bore a loyal and honorable part. During the ad ministration of Johnson he was drawn into the struggle between the President and Congress. On the removal of Stanton, Secretary of War, by President Johnson, Grant was asked to fill the office ad interim, and held it from August, 1867, to January, 1868. Having become prominent in national politics, he was soon recognized as an available candidate for the Presidency, his mili tary services making it evident that whatever party nominated him would receive a large inde pendent support. He was approached by mem bers of both parties, but his views were more nearly in accord with those of the Republicans. In May, 1868, a convention of soldiers and sailors at Chicago indorsed his contemplated candidacy, and on May 20th the Republican Convention on the first ballot nominated him for the Presidency unanimously, naming for the Vice-Presidency Schuyler Colfax of Indiana. Although the Demo erotic candidate, Governor Horatio Seymour, car ried his own State of New York, he secured only seven other States, with a total of only 80 elec toral votes against 214 electoral votes cast for Grant. The new administration was marked by a studied independence of Congressional poli ticians and by a disregard of various political traditions of the National Government. The apparent influence of a military coterie, coupled with the President's marked reticence as to his views and plans, and his want of tact in dealing with civilians, produced an unfortunate lack of cordiality in his relations with Congress and gave rise to a few incidents of discord. During the
campaign he had been conspicuously reticent and inactive, and it was impossible learn in advance his intentions with regard to matters of public moment. However, he had the confidence of the people at large, and this was increased by the negotiation of the important Treaty of Washing ton (q.v.) and by the steps which were thus taken for the early settlement of the Alabama Claims (q.v.). The President made foreign relations an important feature of his first administration by his persistent efforts in favor of the annexation of Santo Domingo, the treaty for which, however, was rejected by the Senate, largely through the opposition of Charles Sumner, whose attitude in this matter led to his exclusion, by the friends of the Administration, from his influential post as chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. A policy of friendly supervision of the South American States was also followed. and much interest was manifested in the war of independence which was being waged in Cuba, and the danger of intervention seemed imminent, especially for a brief period during the excitement caused by the seizure of the Virginias (q.v.). The political condition of the South continued to present serious problems, although most of the actual work of reorganization had been accom plished; the vindictiveness of the extreme Repul? licans was abating; and the President was in clined to lessen the direct control of Southern administration at the hands of the National Gov ernment, and to look forward to the moral regeneration of the newly organized political bodies through their own initiative unaffected by external influences. (See RECONSTRUCTION.) The scandals attaching to the Credit Mobilier (q.v.) were looked upon by the President's op ponents as sources of weakness; but neither these nor other seeming irregularities' had any ma terial effect in the campaign of 1872, when Grant was reelected with the unprecedented number of 286 electoral votes, and with a popu lar vote exceeding by more than 700,000 that given to his chief opponent, Horace Greeley (q.v.). The collapse, as it seemed, of the move ment of the new Liberal-Republican Party (q.v.) left the President in full authority, with very lit tle opposition, and with very few problems of really national importance to be settled. Finan cial affairs, the control of the Indians, and minor matters of ordinary significance occupied the greater portion of his second term, which was marked also by various irregularities, such as the scandal of the `Whisky Ring' (q.v.), in which high Federal officials were concerned, but in which the President himself was in no way impli cated, save in so far as he obstinately stood by friends whose guilt was beyond doubt. In 1874 lie rendered a great service.to his country by his veto of the bill passed by Congress for the infla tion of the paper currency, and he was also re sponsible in a large measure for the passage of the Resumption Act in the following year.