ve them safe conduct north. The circulars were gotten into the
enemy's lines by various devices, chief among which was, by flying
kits at night when the wind blew in the right direction, to the
tail of which the circulars were attached. When the kites were
over the Confederate lines the strings were cut, thus causing them
to fall where the soldiers might find them.( 2) So friendly were
the soldiers of the two armies that by common consent the timber
between the lines was divided and cut and carried away for fuel.
Petersburg was in plain view, to the northeast, from my headquarters.
In front of my line an event took place which brought about the
speedy overthrow of the Confederacy.

With Sherman moving triumphantly northward through the Carolinas
the time was at hand for the final campaign of the Army of the
Potomac. President Lincoln and General Grant were each anxious
that army should, without the direct aid of the Western army,
overcome and destroy the Army of Northern Virginia, which it had
fought during so many years with varying success.( 3)

Grant issued orders, March 24, 1865, for a general movement, to
commence the 29th; the objective of the movement to be the Confederate
Army as soon as it could be forced out of the fortifications.

At the time Grant was writing these orders, Lee was planning an
assault to break the Union lines, hoping he might gain some material
success and thereby prevent an aggressive campaign against him.
General Gordon, accordingly, at early dawn, March 25th, assaulted
Fort Stedman, and, by a surprise, captured it and a portion of our
line adjacent to it; but Union troops, from the right and left,
assailed and recaptured the works and about four thousand of Gordon's
command, the Union loss in killed, wounded, and captured being
about twenty-five hundred. This daring attack, instead of delaying,
precipitated the preparatory work of opening the campaign. About
1 P.M. I received an order to send two regiments to my advanced
line with orders to charge and carry the outer line of the enemy.
The latter was strongly intrenched and held by a large number of
men, besides being close under the guns of the Confederate main
works. The 110th and 122d Ohio were moved outside the forts, and
Colonel Otho H. Binkley was ordered to take command of both regiments
and the picket guard. He charged the enemy, but being unsupported
on the flanks and being exposed to a fierce fire from guns in the
ene