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it by no countenance or open approval, and had assumed the entire direction and control only when it was completed, and the time had come for reaping any advantage that might be derived from it." This report was submitted to the Senate on the 6th of February, 1865, and was ordered to be printed. With its conclusions, rather than with the opinion of the court of inquiry, a fair and impartial mind will be likely to agree.

CHAPTER VII.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END.

FOR

NOR the next few weeks after the explosion of the mine the two opposing armies in front of Petersburg lay in comparative quiet. General Lee had detached a force in the early part of July to make a diversion by way of the Shenandoah valley upon Maryland. To meet and counteract this movement General Grant despatched the sixth corps from the Army of the Potomac to Washington and its neighborhood. The ninteenth corps, opportunely arriving from the South, was also sent in that direction. On the 7th of August, General Sheridan was appointed to the command of the forces in that quarter and soon afterwards inaugurated a very brilliant campaign in the Shenandoah valley, the details of which do not properly come within the province of this narrative.

On the 13th of August General Burnside was granted leave of absence from the Ninth Corps, and immediately left the army for his home in Providence. He was not again called into active service during the continuance of the war. Mr. Lincoln refused to accept his resignation, awaiting some opportunity for sending him again into the field. Immediately before the accession of Mr. Johnson to the presidential chair the resignation was once more tendered and was accepted by the new President on the 15th of April. After the close of the war, General Burnside engaged in business in New York and at the West. In the spring of 1866, the people of Rhode Island demanded an opportunity of expressing their approval of the

course of their favorite soldier. On the 30th of March General Burnside was nominated, and on the 4th of April was elected, Governor of Rhode Island. On the 29th of May he was inaugurated into his high office at Newport, amid a more general and enthusiastic expression of public feeling than had ever been observed in the State.

When General Burnside left the Ninth Corps he carried with him the esteem and affection of every officer and soldier in its ranks. It has been a source of extreme gratification to the writer of this volume during its preparation, that all the letters which have been received from the members of the Corps have contained the warmest expressions of affectionate esteem for their former commander. "I hope," writes one, "you will not fail to speak of the love and respect as well as confidence entertained towards General Burnside by all his command. Your book will not be a complete history of the Corps until this is done." This is the uniform tenor of every communication. It is a grateful testimony to the impression which General Burnside's worth of character has made upon all who have been associated with him. There have indeed been those who have attempted to decry and malign him. No man can escape detraction. Professional jealousy will always point the shafts of calumny, but from the true and faithful man, armored with a pure conscience and faithfulness to duty, they fall harmless. He who directs them receives the greatest injury. They always recoil upon the hand from which they were sent. He who wishes to detract from a fair and well earned fame, proves himself to be deficient in true nobility of character, and incapable of appreciating it when manifested by another. A generous nature is never unwilling to acknowledge the merit even of a rival.

General Burnside left the Corps in good hands. General Parke succeeded to the command and retained it until the close of the war, winning for himself great distinction as a brave and able officer. Immediately after the battle of July 30th, General Ledlie was relieved from the command of the first division

and General White was appointed in his stead.* Generals Willcox and Potter had earned their brevets of Major General by their faithful service during the campaign, and were accordingly promoted, to date from the 1st of August. General Grant, in his movements to envelope the enemy's defences, threw portions of his army, at one time to the north of the James, at another to the south of Petersburg. Step by step during the subsequent months, he gradually extended his lines in both directions. Every movement met with strenuous resistance, and it was only by dint of hard fighting that any important advantage was gained. The Ninth Corps participated in some of the movements towards the south which had for their object the seizure of the enemy's main line of railroad communication.

On the 18th of August the fifth corps, which was posted in our lines on the left of the Ninth, broke camp and marched towards the Weldon railroad, The Ninth Corps moved to the left and held the vacated position of the fifth. The eighteenth corps moved down to the old lines of the Ninth. The advance of the fifth corps struck the Weldon railroad about eight o'clock in the morning at Six-mile Station, and immediately set to work to destroy the track. The remainder of the corps moved to the right for two or three miles and took position to protect the working parties. At noon the enemy appeared and made a very spirited attack, in which our troops were severely handled. During the night and following day the line was strengthened, but on the 19th the enemy became so menacing in his demonstrations, that reënforcements were needed. General Parke sent the divisions of Generals White, Potter and Willcox to the assistance of General Warren. General Willcox arrived first upon the ground and was posted upon the right of the line. At four o'clock in the afternoon the enemy under General A. P. Hill made a furious charge. General Mahone's division was directed upon General Willcox's command.

*General Ledlie resigned on the 16th of January, 1865. General White resigned November 19, 1864.

General Hartranft's brigade was formed upon the right and Colonel Humphrey's on the left. They steadily held their ground and beat back every attempt to break their lines. The fifth corps, however, was not so fortunate, and General Crawford's division suffered a severe loss. Our centre was in danger of giving way, when General Potter and General White arrived most opportunely on the ground. Their troops had had a most wearisome march, but were immediately formed, charged the enemy and restored the battle. The presence of the Ninth Corps at once decided the conflict in our favor, and the enemy was repulsed. The Corps captured two hundred prisoners and a color. The position was secured and strengthened during the night. The Ninth Corps occupied the line extending from the fifth corps on the Weldon railroad to the left of the second corps near the Jerusalem plank road. The ground thus gallantly wrested from the foe was intrenched and became a part of our defences. But the enemy was unwilling to rest easy under the loss which he had suffered. On the 21st he came down upon our lines and attacked with renewed vigor, charging nearly up to the breastworks. Once and again he advanced only to be repulsed with great slaughter. It was a desperate contest and a decided victory for our troops. General Potter's division participated in this brilliant defence. The losses in the Corps on these two days of fighting amounted to about five hundred, in killed, wounded and missing. On the 27th the fourth division which had been left in the old lines was moved to the left, joined the command and was efficiently engaged in constructing redoubts, slashing timber and otherwise strengthening the works.

The arduous duties which had fallen upon the first division, had reduced the numbers of this gallant body of men to such an extent, as to make a reörganization of the Corps desirable. Scarcely a moiety of the officers and men remained in those regiments which had left Annapolis with full ranks. They had borne an honorable part in every action since the opening of the campaign, and had left on every battle field the evidences

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