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 ROBERT EDWARD LEE 307 taining to the office of secretary of war. There are only occasional glimpses of him in the unsuccessful operations of the summer and au- tumn of 1861 in western Virginia. J. E. Johns- ton, who commanded the confederate forces in Virginia, was wounded at the battle of Seven Pines, May 31, 1862 ; A. S. Johnston had been killed at the battle of Shiloh, April 6 ; and the command of the confederate army of northern Virginia, having been held for three days by G. W. Smith, who was disabled by a paralytic stroke, was given to Lee, June 3. The confed- erate army at Richmond was soon augmented so as to be about equal in numbers to the Union army under McClellan, and on June 26 Lee commenced that series of operations known as the seven days' battles. The result was, that after the concluding battle at Malvern Hill, McClellan fell back to Harrison's Landing, and the siege of Richmond was virtually raised. (See CHICZAHOMINY.) Meanwhile the scat- tered Union forces in northern Virginia had been united under Gen. Pope, under the name of the army of Virginia ; and to prevent these from aiding McClellan, Lee moved against them. The result of the operations was the second battle of Bull Run, Aug. 29 and 30, in which Pope was defeated. Lee thereupon entered upon the invasion of Maryland, which was brought to a close by the indecisive battle of Antietam, Sept. 16, 17. He then recrossed the Potomac into Virginia, and moved lei- surely up the valley of the Shenandoah into that of the Rappahannock, finally taking up a strong position near Culpeper Court House. McClellan followed after considerable delay, and early in November the two armies were close together. McClellan seems to have been preparing to attack, when on Nov. 7 he was superseded by Burnside, who proposed a new plan of operations, by which the Union army was to move up the Rappahannock to Fred- ericksburg, cross the river there, and thence move directly toward Richmond. But when Burnside reached Falmouth, opposite Frede- ricksburg, he found that the bridges had been destroyed, and before pontoons could be brought up Lee had arrived and taken up a position on the opposite bank. Burnside at length crossed the Rappahannock, attacked Lee in his positions, Dec. 13, and was signally defeated. Hooker, Burnside's successor, instead of as- sailing Lee in front, turned his left flank, and gained his rear. Then ensued the battle of Chancellorsville, May 2-4, 1863, in which Hooker was worsted. After this battle Lee gathered all the available forces in the Caroli- nas and Virginia, and moving northward en- tered upon what proved an invasion of Penn- sylvania. The Union army was now com- manded by Meade, and the positions and strength of the two armies were such that a conflict soon became inevitable. By mere ac- cident the encounter took place at Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. On the first day, when only parts of each army were present, the confed- erates gained decided advantages. On the sec- ond day they appeared to have the best of it, although their advantages were apparent rath- er than real. On the third day they met a sig- nal repulse, but were not routed ; and Lee re- treated in good order to the Potomac, intend- ing to cross at once into Virginia. But the river had been swollen by rains so that it was now unfordable, and he intrenched himself upon the northern bank, where Meade after a circuitous march came upon him. On the 12th Meade was inclined to make an attack at once, but yielding to the opinion of a council of war postponed it until the next day. Du- ring the night Lee, who had succeeded in build- ing a bridge, crossed the river, which had in the mean while become f ordable in places, and was again safe in Virginia. He fell back to the Rapidan, followed closely and occasionally annoyed by Meade, and the two armies took up positions confronting each other. During the autumn and winter of 1863 there were no im- portant operations in Virginia, and consider- able portions of both armies were sent to the west. In October Lee undertook a movement apparently threatening Washington, and to counteract this Meade fell back as far as Cen- treville, a few miles from the twice-fought battle field of Bull Run, where he made a stand. Lee saw that his force was too small to carry put his design, and he returned to his old position, followed by Meade. Late in No- vember Meade undertook an offensive opera- tion, directed against Lee's right, which lay near a little stream called Mine run, almost within the borders of the region known as the Wilderness. This proved unsuccessful, and closed the active operations in Virginia du- ring the winter of 1863 and the early spring of 1864. Gen. Grant, having been made com- mander-in-chief, as lieutenant general, decided to conduct in person the campaign in Virginia. Lee's army had lain in winter quarters on the south bank of the Rapidan, their lines, strongly intrenched, covering a space of about 20 m. When the spring campaign opened Lee had about 60,000 men ; to oppose these Grant had about 140,000. Grant, while perceiving that the confederate army, rather than any geo- graphical point, was the main object of the campaign, thought it advisable not to assail it in front, but to turn it by the right. The movement commenced on May 4. The Rapi- dan was crossed without opposition, and the army headed southward. The line of march lay through the western verge of the Wilderness. Grant seems to have assumed that Lee, finding his flank fairly turned by a greatly superior force, would fall back toward Richmond. But Lee resolved to attack the enemy while mov- ing through this wooded region, in which the superiority of the federal force would be in a great measure neutralized by the character of the country. The attack was skilfully con- ceived and boldly executed. The result was the bloody but indecisive battle of the Wil-