f the Tennessee, now commanded by Sherman, was brought up to
Chattanooga from Vicksburg, and General Grant was placed in command of
all forces west of the Alleghenies. General Hooker was sent from Virginia
with reinforcements, and General Grant prepared for the decisive battle
of the West. In that battle, which was fought about Chattanooga, November
24 and 25, Bragg was completely defeated with a loss of about 3000 in
killed and wounded and 6000 prisoners. A remarkable feature of this
battle is that the Confederate position on Missionary Ridge was carried
by a charge made by the Union troops without orders from their commanders.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Grant Appointed Lieutenant-General--Takes Command in Virginia--Battles
of the Wilderness--The Two Armies--Battle of Cedar Creek--Sheridan's
Ride--He Turns Defeat Into Victory--Confederate Disasters on Land and
Sea--Farragut at Mobile--Last Naval Battle of the War--Sherman Enters
Atlanta--Lincoln's Re-election--Sherman's March to the Sea--Sherman
Captures Savannah--Thomas Defeats Hood at Nashville--Fort Fisher
Taken--Lee Appointed General-in-chief--Confederate Defeat at Five
Forks--Lee's Surrender--Johnston's Surrender--End of the War--The South
Prostrate--A Resistance Unparalleled in History--The Blots on the
Confederacy--Cruel Treatment of Union Men and Prisoners--Murder of
Abraham Lincoln--The South Since the War.

The Confederacy having been dismantled in the Southwest--except in Texas,
where secession simply awaited the result in other States--Virginia
became the central battle-ground of the rebellion. There its chief
energies were concentrated for the closing struggle, and there its
greatest leader commanded. It was the part of wisdom, therefore, for the
National Government to make its most successful general chief of all the
National armies, with the understanding that he would personally direct
operations in the most important field. Grant was appointed
lieutenant-general in March, 1864, and he at once gave his attention to
the Army of the Potomac, which Meade continued to command under his
supervision. The Army of Northern Virginia was no longer the
well-equipped host which had gained victory after victory in the earlier
period of the war, but its spirit was undaunted, and Lee, as his
resources diminished, displayed more signally than ever his remarkable
military genius. The two great commanders were face to face, but not on
the equal terms that in '62 or '63 w