A Stillness at Appomattox (16 page)

Whatever
happened,
Lee
must
never
again
be
allowed
to take
the
initiative.
It
might
or
it
might
not
be
possible
to beat
him,
but
it
was
all-important
to
keep
him
busy.
It
must be
made
impossible
for
him
to
detach
troops
to
oppose Sherman,
who
was
breaking
his
way
into
Georgia
with
the contemptuous
remark
that
when
you
pierced
the
shell
of the
Confederacy
you
found
hollowness
within.
Also,
Ben Butler
was
advancing
toward
Richmond
on
the
south
side of
the
James,
and
if
the
Army
of
the
Potomac
spent
the
first month
of
the
campaign
getting
on
and
off
of
steamboats
Lee could
concentrate
against
Butler,
destroy
him
and
his
army, and
thus
win
a
dazzling
victory
at
comparatively
low
cost.

For
all
of
these
reasons,
then,
the
Army
of
the
Potomac had
one
paramount
responsibility:
it
must
get
close
to
the enemy
as
soon
as
possible
and
it
must
stay
close
until
the war
ended.
If
it
did
that,
victory
would
come.
It
might
not come
in
Virginia,
and
the
price
paid
for
it
might
be
terribly high,
but
it
would
come
in
the
end.
³

So
the
army
was
heading
down
into
the
Wilderness,
hoping
to
cross
that
unwholesome
area
quickly
and
to
get
the Army
of
Northern
Virginia
by
the
throat
immediately
thereafter.
It
was
a
good
enough
plan.
The
difficulty
might
lie in
the
fact
that
Lee
was
notoriously
averse
to
fighting
battles when
and
where
his
enemies
wanted
to
fight
them.

Some
of
the
soldiers
felt
this,
and
as
they
crossed
the river
they
were
vaguely
uneasy.
A
cavalry
regiment
got
over in
the
middle
of
the
night,
drove
off
the
Rebel
pickets
at the
crossing,
and
went
jogging
up
the
sandy
roads
into
the black
forest.
As
they
rode
the
men
talked,
and
one
man said
that
he
never
thought
"the
army
went
hunting
around in
the
night
for
Johnnies
in
this
way."
A
comrade
explained: "We're
stealing
a
march
on
old
man
Lee."

They
thought
that
over
briefly,
and
someone
suggested: "Lee'll
miss
us
in
the
morning."

"Yes,"
said
another,
"and
then
look
out.
Hell
come
tearing down
this
way
ready
for
a
fight."
⁴

Lee
was
on
Grant's
mind,
too,
that
day.
At
noon
Grant crossed
the
Rapidan
and
made
temporary
headquarters
in
a deserted
farmhouse
overlooking
the
ford,
and
a
newspaper correspondent
brashly
asked
him
how
long
it
would
take
him to
reach
Richmond.
About
four
days,
said
Grant
soberly; then,
as
the
newspaperman
goggled
at
him,
he
went
on— four
days,
provided
General
Lee
was
a
party
to
the
agreement.
If
not,
it
would
probably
take
a
good
deal
longer.

Grant
had
ridden
past
the
troops
in
midmorning,
his
ornamented
staff
trotting
at
his
heels.
Riding
beside
him
there was
the
lone
civilian
amid
all
those
thousands
of
soldiers—

Congressman
Elihu
B.
Washburne
of
Illinois,
Grant's
personal
friend
and
political
sponsor,
a
headquarters
visitor
for the
opening
days
of
the
campaign.
Washburne
wore
civilian clothes
of
funereal
black,
and
when
the
soldiers
saw
him they
asked
one
another
who
this
character
might
be.
A
staff officer
heard
one
rear-rank
wit
telling
his
mates
that
it
was simple;
the
Old
Man
had
brought
along
his
private
undertaker.
⁵

For
the
first
twenty-four
hours
nothing
happened.
Warren and
Sedgwick
got
their
men
over
the
river
at
Germanna Ford
and
headed
south.
The
day
was
warm,
and
in
the
hollow
roads
no
air
was
stirring,
and
before
long
the
roadside was
Uttered
with
packed
knapsacks,
overcoats,
extra
blankets,
and
other
bits
of
gear
which
sweating
soldiers
found too
heavy
to
carry.
The
veterans
wagged
their
heads
:
all
of that
stuff
was
a
sure
sign
that
there
were
lots
of
recruits
in tthe
ranks—no
old-timer
would
load
himself
down
with
excess baggage
at
the
beginning
of
a
march.

Artillerists
gloated,
and
scampered
about
collecting
loot; they
had
an
advantage
over
infantry,
in
that
gun
carriages and
caissons
offered
handy
places
to
carry
such
extras.
The more
experienced
gunners
warned
their
mates
not
to
be hasty.
If
they
waited
for
heat
and
fatigue
to
become
a
little more
oppressive,
some
of
the
straw-feet
would
begin
discarding
even
their
haversacks,
and
those
must
be
collected at
all
costs.
If
this
march
was
like
most
others,
they
would leave
the
supply
trains
far
behind,
and
it
was
important
to lay
in
a
surplus
of
food.
⁸