The American Civil War - This Mighty Scourge of War

204 The American Civil War

The sturdy coal miners who dug the tunnel between the

lines faced considerable danger and discomfort even

before it was packed with 8,000lbs (3, 629kg) of powder

Their ingenious system for drawing fresh air into the

tunnel made the project possible. (Public domain)

Grant's first move of his left beyond Lee's
right came on 21 June. The reliable II Corps,
under the magnificent leadership of General
Winfield Scott Hancock, moved across the
Jerusalem Plank Road, permanently denying
that artery to the Confederates, and on
toward the Weldon Railroad. Lee could not
surrender the vital rail link without a fight.
He sent two divisions out to intercept
Hancock's force. The tactical result was
stunning. The glorious old Federal II Corps
folded and ran in the face of a smaller force,
losing 2,500 men, the vast majority of them
as prisoners of war.
This embarrassing result, which could not
have been imagined under any circumstances
from that seasoned formation a few months
earlier, highlighted the condition of Grant's
army. It had been bled so thoroughly, and
enervated so completely, that it had lost its

hard-won and long-held prowess. Most of the

army's field-grade officers, company officers,

and non-commissioned officers lay

moldering in graves between the Rapidan

and James rivers, or languishing wounded in

facilities along the east coast.

Conventional historical wisdom has long

credited Grant with a sort of quiet genius

that recognized the necessity of slaughtering

troops of both sides in endless hecatombs

until arithmetic won the war. The

unmistakable historical record shows that

accepting about 200,000 combined casualties

in getting to Richmond did end the war in a

year of bloodshed. A minority opinion

suggests that the immutable advantages of

terrain and strategic imperatives available to

the Federal cause around Petersburg would

have set a far more desirable stage upon

which to invoke elements of the military art.

By the time the Army of the Potomac

reached that advantageous ground in 1864,

however, the army retained only a barely

recognizable shadow of its former might. The

months to come would feature operations in

the image of the Weldon Railroad.