Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 22.djvu/314

 302 Southern Historical Society Papers.

The 2gth finds Early on the Potomac and McCausland at Cham- bersburg, where in default of payment of $100,000 levied upon the town, in retaliation for Hunter's excesses in Virginia, he, under Early's orders, put it to the flames. On the 5th of August Early crossed the Potomac, taking position near Sharpsburg, intending to threaten the enemy's country and keep troops from getting to Grant and to mystify Hunter as to his movements.

GRANT'S PLANS BROKEN UP.

The result shows Early's sagacity. On the 3Oth of July, while McCausland was at Chambersburg, Grant exploded the mine under Lee's lines at Petersburg, and on that day Sheridan had joined him therewith his cavalry. "The explosion," says Grant "was a stu- pendous failure," and he lost 10,000 men in the vain endeavor; but the next day he ordered Meade to take a corps of infantry and the cavalry and to proceed August ist, before Lee could get back to the Weldon railroad, and destroy fifteen miles of that important line. "But misfortune," says Grant, "never comes singly." He learned that afternoon, July ist, of Early's move- ments on the Potomac, and he says: "I rescinded my orders for the division to go out and destroy the Weldon railroad and directed them to embark for Washington city." Thus was Early's draft on Grant's lines again honored, the pressure on Lee to that extent relieved, the second invasion terminated as successful as the first, and now we shall see Grant himself and an army larger than all of Lee's hurrying to look after the irrepressible, redoubtable, and ubiquitous Early.

Grant had been greatly stirred up by Early's movements, and Hunter infinitely mystified, just as Early calculated they would be. On the 4th of August Grant jumped upon the train for City Point, took a steamer, and posted direct through Washington to Mono- cacy. There he found Hunter, who had started to Richmond and landed at White Sulphur Springs, the Ohio river, and finally at Monocacy.

He asked Hunter an embarrassing question: "Where is the enemy?" He replied that he did not know, and was so embarras- sed with orders from Washington that he had lost all trace of the enemy. Grant told him that Sheridan was in Washington with one cavalry division and another on the way, and suggested that he (Hunter) should make headquarters, at Cumberland, Baltimore, or