On March 24, however, at the very moment Gordon was making his plans for
next day's sortie, Grant issued his order for the great movement to the
left which was to finish the war. He intended to begin on the
twenty-ninth, but Lee's desperate dash of the twenty-fifth convinced him
that not a moment was to be lost. Sheridan reached City Point on the
twenty-sixth. Sherman came up from North Carolina for a brief visit next
day. The President was also there, and an interesting meeting took place
between these famous brothers in arms and Mr. Lincoln; after which
Sherman went back to Goldsboro, and Grant began pushing his army to the
left with even more than his usual iron energy.
It was a great army--the result of all the power and wisdom of the
government, all the devotion of the people, all the intelligence and
teachableness of the soldiers themselves, and all the ability which a
mighty war had developed in the officers. In command of all was Grant,
the most extraordinary military temperament this country has ever seen.
The numbers of the respective armies in this last grapple have been the
occasion of endless controversy. As nearly as can be ascertained, the
grand total of all arms on the Union side was 124,700; on the
Confederate side, 57,000.
Grant's plan, as announced in his instructions of March 24, was at first
to despatch Sheridan to destroy the South Side and Danville railroads,
at the same time moving a heavy force to the left to insure the success
of this raid, and then to turn Lee's position.
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