blow. The
adventurous Hood had advanced with his army of 44,000 to the very gates
of Nashville. The deliberate Thomas, spite of prickings from Grant,
waited till he felt prepared. Then he struck with a Titan's hand. The
first day's fight, December 15th, drove the Confederate line back two
miles. Hood formed again on hills running east and west, and hastily
fortified. All next day the battle raged. Late in the afternoon the
works on the Confederate left were carried by a gallant charge. Total
rout of Hood's brave army followed. It fled south, demoralized and
scattered, never to appear again as an organized force. In the two days'
battle, 4,500 prisoners and 53 guns were taken.

[Illustration: Map.]
The Battle-Field of Nashville.

February 1, 1865, his troops all rested and equipped afresh, Sherman set
his face to the north. The days of frolic were over. Continuous rains
had made the Carolinas almost impassable. The march now begun was an
incessant struggle with mud, swamps, and swollen rivers. A pontoon and
trestle bridge three miles long was thrown across the Savannah, and
miles of corduroy road were built through continuous swamps. Charleston,
incessantly besieged since the war opened, where the United States had
wasted more powder and iron than at all other points together, fell
without a blow. Columbia was reached the middle of the month. It caught
fire--just how has never been settled--and the greater part of the city
was destroyed. Sherman's men helped to put out the flames, and left
behind provisions and a herd of five hundred cattle for the suffering
inhabitants.

[Illustration: Map.]
Map of North Carolina.

The army pushed on toward North Carolina, destroying railroads as it
went. Johnston was athwart their path with 30,000 men. March 16th he
struck Sherman's army at Averysboro', N. C., and three days later at
Bentonville. In the latter battle he was completely routed, and re
treated during the night. Sherman swept on to Goldsboro', where
re-enforcements from the coast, under Schofield, increased his army to
90,000. He was undisputed master of the Carolinas. By this time the
Confederacy was hastening to its fall. April 11th the news of Lee's
surrender was hailed in Sherman's army with shouts of joy. A few days
later Johnston surrendered to the hero of Atlanta and of the March to
the Sea.

CHAPTER VII.

THE VIRGINIA CAMPAIGNS OF 1862-63

[1862]

The Army of the Potomac lay inactive all th