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

WITH GENERAL SHERIDAN. 315
cared for and moved to the rear; and then we betook ourselves
again to the hotel, where we fell down on the sofest board that
offered, and were asleep.
Meanwhile the lieutenant-general seems to have been awake,
as we find that he immediately acted upon General Sheridan's
report of the fight at Dinwiddle by ordering to his support
MacKenzie's division of cavalry from the Army of the James,
and first one division and then the whole of the Fifth Corps.
General Grant evidently deemed it important that General
Sheridan should not be foiled in his effort to break through the
enemy's right flank, and therefore sent to him a force sufficient
to accomplish that end— a judicious reinforcement, that led to
the best results.
Unfortunately, however, there is associated with the brilliant
operations which followed an unpleasant personal matter, which
ought perhaps to be noticed here. Everybody will remember
that at the battle of Five Forks, on April ist, Major-General
Warren was relieved from the command of the Fifth Army
Corps by General Sheridan, and ordered to report to General
Grant, and as we are on the eve of that engagement, it seems
proper to speak of this incident now, because General Sheridan
was undoubtedly influenced to his action in regard to General
Warren partially by events preceding the battle. At the time
much interest was felt in the community to learn the real causes
of General Warren's removal, for he was an officer of promi-
nence in the Army of the Potomac, and his record and reputa-
tion were such that it is a question whether this personal affair
did not cause as much discussion in the North as the important
battle of which it was an incident. This interest has been kept
alive by supporters of the two officers concerned ; and lately,
if the circumstance was in danger of being forgotten, attention
has again been called to it by the pamphlet of General Warren,
giving his version of the difficulty, interwoven with a sketch
of the operations of his corps. In view of these circumstances
it would be idle to ignore this subject in a narrative purporting
to follow General Sheridan through this campaign, and as the