weeks in resting his tired soldiers and
in gathering supplies. This delay gave Thomas time to draw in recruits.
At last Hood attacked Schofield at Franklin on November 30, 1864.
Schofield retreated to Nashville, where Thomas was with the bulk of his
army, and Hood followed. Thomas took all the time he needed to complete
his preparations. Grant felt anxious at his delay and ordered him to
fight. But Thomas would not fight until he was ready. At length, on
December 15, he struck the blow, and in two days of fighting destroyed
Hood's whole army. This was the last great battle in the West.

[Sidenote: The March to the Sea, 1864.]

[Sidenote: Fall of Savannah, December, 1864.]

426. Marching through Georgia.--Destroying the mills and factories
of Atlanta, Sherman set out for the seashore. He had sixty thousand men
with him. They were all veterans and marched along as if on a holiday
excursion. Spreading out over a line of sixty miles, they gathered
everything eatable within reach. Every now and then they would stop and
destroy a railroad. This they did by taking up the rails, heating them
in the middle on fires of burning sleepers, and then twisting them
around the nearest trees. In this way they cut a gap sixty miles long in
the railroad communication between the half-starved army of northern
Virginia and the storehouses of southern Georgia. On December 10, 1864,
Sherman reached the sea. Ten days later he captured Savannah and
presented it to the nation as a Christmas gift. Sherman and Thomas
between them had struck a fearful blow at the Confederacy. How had it
fared with Grant?

[Sidenote: Grant's plan of campaign, 1864.]

[Sidenote: Objections to it.]

427. Grant in Virginia, 1864.--Grant had with him in Virginia the
Army of the Potomac under Meade, the Ninth Corps under Burnside, and a
great cavalry force under Sheridan. In addition General Butler was on
the James River with some thirty thousand men. Lee had under his orders
about one-half as many soldiers as had Grant. In every other respect the
advantage was on his side. Grant's plan of campaign was to move by his
left from the Rappahannock southeastwardly. He expected to push Lee
southward and hoped to destroy his army. Butler, on his part, was to
move up the James. By this plan Grant could always be near navigable
water and could in this way easily supply his army with food and
military stores. The great objection to this scheme of invasion was that
it gave L