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Chapter Fourteen: “He Knows Not What a Day or Hour May Bring Forth”—Dabney’s Mills and Second Hatcher’s Run, January–March 1865
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239 Chapter Fourteen “He Knows Not What a Day or Hour May Bring Forth” Dabney’s Mills and Second Hatcher’s Run, January—March 1865 The Army of the Potomac Taking new resolution from the fate which our enemies intend for us let every man devote all his energies to the common defense. . . . The advantages of the enemy will have but little value if we do not permit them to impair our resolution . Let us then oppose constancy to adversity, fortitude to suffering, and courage to danger, with the firm assurance that He who gave freedom to our fathers, will bless the efforts of their children to preserve it. —General Robert E. Lee, February 11, 1865 As both sides settled into winter encampment at the close of 1864 and the beginning of 1865, the Confederates were at a decided disadvantage: their food and supplies had been severely reduced by Union successes in seizing and controlling Rebel rail lines and roads; Union forces outnumbered their own in the Petersburg fortifications by a 2:1 margin; and the November presidential election in the North had resulted in a resounding victory for Abraham Lincoln that seemed to close any doors to a negotiated peace between the two armies. Lincoln did, in fact, pursue several peace overtures, but his insistence on unconditional surrender and his rejection of Southern independence scotched the possibility of negotiations between the two sides. 240 Your Brother in Arms Union regiments in the Army of the Potomac were beginning to receive cold-weather clothing that had been packed up and placed in storage during the summer. And the Union supply train and wagon network brought ample provisions to the Federals on a regular schedule. On the other side, cold and hungry Confederates began trickling into the Union lines to surrender. The 155th Pennsylvania reported receiving squads of five or six deserters at a time into their line. As historian James McPherson has described it, Lee’s army of 55,000 was “melting away by desertions”1 during the winter of 1865. Under pressure from Lincoln to pursue Lee while the Confederate army was so vulnerable, Grant made plans for an operation to attack the Confederates where the Army of the Potomac had left off at the end of 1864. The primary objective of this renewed effort was to inflict casualties and force Lee to extend his already thin siege lines a bit more. This was not war on an epic scale but a continuation of the“bull dog grip”approach, advocated earlier by Lincoln, where the enemy is strangled into submission. Meade objected to the foray, insisting that there was little to be gained from such a move and that maneuvers in winter could be subject to disastrous weather conditions . (The memory of Burnside’s “Mud March” lingered on.) Meade was overruled by Grant. Grant’s orders, issued on February 4, were for the Second and Fifth Corps, accompanied by General David Gregg’s cavalry division, to intercept and capture Confederate wagon trains carrying supplies from Belfield. Warren’s Fifth Corps–starting out from Globe Tavern—would provide security for Gregg’s troopers, who would ride south on Boydton Plank Road to locate and seize Confederate supply wagons. The Second Corps—now under General Andrew Humphreys—departed the vicinity of Globe Tavern to hold positions north of Hatcher’s Run to protect the Union operation from a northern attack by the Confederates coming out of Petersburg. Once he saw the Union’s intention, Lee ordered reinforcements into the area: the Second Corps of General John B. Gordon joined General Henry Heth’s division. Held in reserve along Boydton Plank Road was General Mahone ’s division, now under General Joseph Finegen, who temporarily commanded while Mahone recovered from an illness. Because of severe forage limitations for mounts, the only Confederate cavalry unit nearby was that of William Henry Fitzhugh (“Rooney”) Lee, Robert E. Lee’s son. Beginning on the afternoon of February 5, the Confederates began taking the Federals under fire that lasted over an hour. They then followed artillery fire with an assault on the Union line that was turned back at dusk. After sizing up the situation in the early evening, Grant sent reinforcements to support the Second and Fifth Corps. Joining Humphreys’s and Warren’s men were divisions from the Ninth and Sixth Corps. [35.168.113.41] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 02:47 GMT) Dabney’s Mills and Second Hatcher’s Run, January—March 1865...