spite from the crushing pressure he was yet to apply. For the
pet scheme of the North was but foiled--not ruined; and her whole power
sang but the one refrain--_Delenda est Atlanta!_

And those two months could not be utilized to much effect by the South.
Worn in resources, supplies--in everything but patient endurance, she
still came forth from the dark doubts the winter had raised, hopeful,
if not confident; calm, if conscious of the portentous clouds lowering
upon her horizon.

Meanwhile, Grant, elevated to a lieutenant-generalcy, had been
transferred to the Potomac frontier; and men, money, supplies--without
stint or limit--had been placed at his disposal.

On the 1st February, Mr. Lincoln had called for 500,000 men; and on the
14th March for 200,000 more!

General Grant, himself, testified to the absolute control given him, in
a letter to Mr. Lincoln, under date of 1st May, '64--from Culpeper C.
H., which concludes: "I have been astonished at the readiness with
which everything asked for has been granted without any explanation
being asked. Should my success be less than I desire and expect, the
least I can say is, that the fault is not with you."

With these unlimited resources, he was given almost unlimited power;
and the jubilant North crowed as loudly as it had before Manassas, the
Seven Days, or Fredericksburg.

In Richmond all was quiet. The Government had done all it could, and
the people had responded with a generous unanimity that ignored all
points of variance between it and them. All the supplies that could be
collected and forwarded, under the very imperfect systems, were sent to
the armies; all the arms that could be made, altered or repaired, were
got ready; and every man not absolutely needed elsewhere--with the rare
exceptions of influence and favoritism openly defying the law--was
already at the front.

And seeing that all was done as well as might be, the Capital
waited--not with the buoyant hopefulness of the past--but with patient
and purposeful resolve.

And the ceaseless clang of preparation, cut by the ceaseless yell of
anticipated triumph, still echoed over the Potomac--ever nearer and
ever louder. Then, by way of interlude, on the 28th March, came the
notorious Dahlgren raid. Though Kilpatrick was demoralized and driven
back by the reserves in the gunless works; though Custar's men retired
before the furloughed artillerists and home guards; and though
Dahlgren's picked cavalry wer