The Maine bugle ... campaign; 1-5 Jan. 1894-Oct. 1898 - Maine.gov

WFTH GENERAf. SHERIDAN. 205
hcnsioii for his line of retreat, while every moment he must
have dreaded an overwhehiiint^ attack ujx)!! his front. Uehind
him Sherman, whom nothing could stop, was closing in ; in
front, Sheridan had been able to roam over Vir^i^inia and join
the armies on the James, and nothing could be spared to hinder
him; but, hopinc^ aL,^ainst liope, like sleepy (lies Lee's army saw
the encircling web, and still stayed on to be entrapped. Seeing
the troubles besetting Lee, all were alarmed lest he shoidd
pocket his [:)ride, abandon the capital, postpone his evil da)-,
and perhaps achieve some tem[)orary advantage by rapidly
joining Johnston in North Carolina, with whom his communica-
tions were still intact.
It was tlie liope of the army, as well as of the President, that
Lee's evil day should not be thus post[)oned, but that then and
there, in Virginia, where the struggle had been begun and been
most fiercely maintained, it should be terminated, so far as the
Army of the Potomac and her allies on the James were con-
cerned. The troops demanded this in the name of poetical
justice, and all patriots desired it with intense craving. So long
as Lee could be kept at Petersburg by stratagem or force, or
by his own fool-hardiness, so long the people and the army
could hope for a decisive and brilliant campaign, and hope
would keep alive the enthusiasm which the chances of success
inspired ; but if he should decamp, enthusiasm would give place
to lassitude; again the desponding would see lions in the path ;
Lee would find hosts of believers in the bragging assertion that
if Richmond were captured he could wage war in the moun-
tains for twenty years; and it would seem so much like the old,
old story, that the stoutest would despair in contemplating the
campaign that would ensue,—transports required to ship troops
here, railroads to be repaired to supply them there, long
marches, long halts, bad climate, bad roads, hard fighting, and
hard luck ; then more men and more money. On the other
hand, there reall\' seemed a j-)ros[)ect that Lee would be
" bagged " for positively the last time, if he should remain until
we could get read}' to move against him. Victory was almost
within our grasp, and " victory's daughter "— Peace.