the headship of the
Mississippi Department. The latter accompanied his superior toward
Washington as far as Cincinnati, and there, in a parlor of the Burnet
House, the two victorious generals, bending over their maps together,
planned in outline that gigantic campaign of 1864-65, which was to end
the war; then, grasping one another warmly by the hand, they parted, one
starting east, the other south, each to strike at the appointed time his
half of the ponderous death-blow.

Sherman pushed out from Chattanooga May 6, 1864, with 100,000 men and
254 cannon. His force comprised the Army of the Cumberland, 60,000,
under Thomas; the Army of the Tennessee, 25,000, under Schofield; and
the Army of the Ohio, 15,000, under McPherson. Johnston, who had
superseded Bragg, lay behind strong works at Dalton, a few miles
southeast, with 64,000 men, his base being Atlanta, 80 miles away.
Sherman's supplies all came over a single line of railroad from
Nashville, nearly 150 miles from Chattanooga as the road ran. Every
advantage but numbers was on Johnston's side.

Sherman calculated that the Army of the Cumberland could hold his
opponent at bay, while the two smaller armies crept around his flanks.
This plan was adhered to throughout, and with wonderful success. All
through May and the first of June a series of skilful flanking movements
compelled Johnston to fall back from one position to another, each
commander, like a tried boxer, constantly on the watch to catch his
opponent off guard. Heavy skirmishing day after day made the march
practically one long battle.

June 10th Johnston planted his army upon three elevations--Kenesaw,
Pine, and Lost Mountains--and stubbornly stood at bay. A pouring rain,
which turned the whole country into a quagmire and the streams into
formidable rivers, made the usual flank manoeuvre impracticable. Sherman
resolved to assault in front. June 27th a determined onset was made
along the whole line for two hours but failed, though the troops gained
positions close to the hostile works and intrenched. They lost 2,500;
the Confederates not more than a third of this number. The roads having
now improved, Sherman resorted to his old tactics, the Confederates
having to fall back across the Chattahoochee, and come to bay under the
very guns of Atlanta.

Just at the critical moment, when Sherman's army was slowly closing in
around Atlanta, General Johnston, so wary and cool, was superseded by
the young and fie