198 The American Civil War
To the North Anna and
the James
Fighting on 19 May at the Harris Farm,
northeast of the old salient position and
beyond the Ni river, brought to a close two
weeks of steady combat. Grant moved
southeast in his continuing efforts to intrude
between Lee and Richmond and force battle
on his own terms. The two armies clashed
across and around the North Anna river,
midway between Spotsylvania and
Richmond, on 23-27 May. They waged no
pitched engagement during that time, but
jockeyed steadily for position.
The river, running roughly perpendicular
to the Federal line of advance, offered only
three usable crossings. The left (northern)
bank of the stream at the fords on the
eastern and western edges of the battlefield
commanded the right bank, making it
Union engineer troops at work on the banks of the
North Anna river, where Lee stymied Grant for four
days in late May 1864. (Public domain)
possible for Grant to force troops across. At
Ox Ford in the middle, ground made the
Confederates masters of the locale.
Nonchalantly, almost indifferently, Grant
pushed his columns across on each flank,
giving Lee a golden opportunity to defeat
either side in detail. The river and its
difficult fords markedly complicated Federal
options, to Lee's advantage.
In 1862 or early 1863, such circumstances
would have yielded a thorough thrashing
for Grant. In May 1864, however, Lee did
not have the means to gather in the
toothsome prize. All three of his corps
commanders were out of action, and a
temporary illness had almost prostrated
Lee himself. He could only seethe from
his cot: 'We must strike them a blow -
we must never let them pass us again -
we must strike them a blow.'
Grant steered his army southeast once
more, from the North Anna river toward
Totopotomoy Creek, ever closer to
Richmond. Lee's customary interposition
kept nudging the Federals eastward even as