ee shorter lines of march to all important points. This fact
and their superior knowledge of the country gave the Confederates an
advantage which largely made up for their lack in numbers.

[Sidenote: Battle of the Wilderness, May, 1864.]

428. The Wilderness, May, 1864.--On May 4 and 5 the Union army
crossed the Rapidan and marched southward through the Wilderness. It
soon found itself very near the scene of the disastrous battle of
Chancellorsville (p. 335). The woods were thick and full of underbrush.
Clearings were few, and the roads were fewer still. On ground like this
Lee attacked the Union army. Everything was in favor of the attacker,
for it was impossible to foresee his blows, or to get men quickly to any
threatened spot. Nevertheless Grant fought four days. Then he skillfully
removed the army and marched by his left to Spotsylvania Court House.

[Illustration: GENERAL GRANT. From a photograph taken in the field,
March, 1865. "Strong, simple, silent, ... such was he Who helped us in
our need."--LOWELL.]

[Sidenote: Spotsylvania, May, 1864.]

429. Spotsylvania, May, 1864.--Lee reached Spotsylvania first and
fortified his position. For days fearful combats went on. One point in
the Confederate line, called the Salient, was taken and retaken over and
over again. The loss of life was awful, and Grant could not push Lee
back. So on May 20 he again set out on his march by the left and
directed his army to the North Anna. But Lee was again before him and
held such a strong position that it was useless to attack him.

[Sidenote: Cold Harbor.]

[Sidenote: Blockade of Petersburg.]

430. To the James, June, 1864.--Grant again withdrew his army and
resumed his southward march. But when he reached Cold Harbor, Lee was
again strongly fortified. Both armies were now on the ground of the
Peninsular Campaign. For two weeks Grant attacked again and again. Then
on June 11 he took up his march for the last time. On June 15 the Union
soldiers reached the banks of the James River below the junction of the
Appomattox. But, owing to some misunderstanding, Petersburg had not been
seized. So Lee established himself there, and the campaign took on the
form of a siege. In these campaigns from the Rapidan to the James, Grant
lost in killed, wounded, and missing sixty thousand men. Lee's loss was
much less--how much less is not known.

[Illustration: A BOMB PROOF AT PETERSBURG AS IT APPEARS TO-DAY WITH THE
TREES GROWING ON THE BR