104 



ARMY OPERATIONS. 



noon, and have formed their junction with the forces 

 of Gen. Butler. 



EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. 

 On the 15th, 16th, and 17th, offensive oper- 

 ations were suspended. The roads had been 

 made impassable by the rains. On the 18th, 

 the Secretary of War telegraphed as follows : 



WASHINGTON, May 1811:15 A. M. 

 Miyor-Geiieral Dlx : 



We have no reports of operations since my last 

 despatch. The latest information from Gen. Grant 

 tvas that the roads had greatly improved. Large re- 

 enforcements had reached him, and he designed to 

 move against the enemy without delay. 



It is the design of the Government to keep up the 

 national forces until the rebellion is overthrown ; 

 and, in order to provide against any inopportune re- 

 duction, when the services of the hundred days' men 

 go out, a draft to fill up their place, and all other re- 

 ductions, will be ordered, to take place on the 1st of 

 Jul 7> by which time the new enrolments will be com- 

 pleted. No order is yet issued. 



EDWIN M. StANTON, Secretary of War. 



It was at first supposed that the wounded in 

 these terrible battles would be" sent to Eappa- 

 hannook Station, and thence by railroad to 

 Washington. But the guerrillas of the enemy 

 were so numerous in the rear of Gen. Grant's 

 army as to prevent this arrangement. The 

 trains were therefore withdrawn to Washing- 

 ton. At first hospitals were established on the 

 field. But on Friday the 6th a number of 

 slightly wounded men, who had been ordered 

 to the rear, made their way to Fredericksburg 

 under an escort of fourteen armed men. On 

 entering the town, they were fired on by the 

 citizens with such arms as could be obtained. 

 They, however, succeeded in passing out and 

 proceeded to Aquia Creek, where they were 

 taken up by a gunboat and carried to Wash- 

 ington. Fredericksburg was occupied by a 

 force of Gen. Grant, and hospitals established. 

 Surgeons and nurses were immediately sent 

 forward from Washington, Philadelphia, Har- 

 risbnrg, Trenton, New York, and Albany, and 

 other cities, to render assistance. The vessels 

 in the employment of the Sanitary Commission 

 were loaded with hospital supplies, and de- 

 spatched with relief agents and nurses. The 

 most severely wounded were retained at the 

 hospitals in Fredericksburg, but others were 

 transported to the Government hospitals in the 

 northern cities. The Christian Commission had 

 a large number of persons, with stores at hand 

 to afford relief. The Government also did 

 every thing in its power to succor the wounded. 

 The losses by the battles of the first eight days 

 were variously estimated. The following is a 

 statement which does not include the 9th 

 corps : 



filled. Wounded. Misting. Total. 



Second corps 1,100 7.000 1,400 9,500 



Fifth corps 1.200 7.500 1,300 10 000 



Sixth corps 1,000 6,000 1,200 8,200 



Total 3,300 20,500 3,900 ~27~700 



If the losses in the 9th corps are added to the 

 above, and supposed to be in the same propor- 

 tion, the entire loss will reach thirty-five thou- 

 sand men. 



On ths 14th the first detachment of the hun 

 dred days' volunteers reached Washington. 

 Many of them were sent into the army under 

 Gen. Grant before their term of service expired. 



On the previous day, the 13th, the Govern- 

 ment made a requisition on the Governor of 

 Maryland for the immediate services of two 

 thousand militia for one hundred days. The 

 Governor immediately issued a call for that 

 number to relieve the regular troops on duty in 

 that State. At the same time the Govei nor of 

 Kentucky issued the following call for troops: 



FRANKFORT, KT., May 13, 1864. 



_ Kentuckians ! to the rescue ! I want ten thousand 

 six months' troops at once. Do not hesitate to come. 

 I will lead you. Let us help to finish this war and 

 save our Government. 



THOMAS E. BRAMLETTE, 



Governor of Kentucky. 



The number of troops in the Army of the Po- 

 tomac, when it crossed the Eapidan, has been 

 variously stated at 120,000 and 150,000. Tho 

 army consisted of four corps, each of which, 

 with full ranks, would have numbered about 

 forty thousand men. The ranks, however, were 

 not full. No official statement of the numbers 

 has been made. But there were various coop- 

 erating movements in which large forces were 

 engaged. Gen. Butler moved up the Peninsula 

 with a force between forty and fifty thousand 

 strong, to cut the southern communications 

 with Bichmond. Another force, about fifteen 

 thousand strong, moved up the Shenandoah 

 Valley, under Gen. Sigel, and from Western 

 Virginia under other commanders, for the pur- 

 pose of cutting the railroads running from the 

 west and southwest to Eichmond. It evidently 

 must have been the opinion of Gen. Grant that 

 the army of Gen. Meade would have been suf- 

 ficient to cope with the forces of Gen. Lee. 

 But, to secure ample provision for that object, 

 the corps of Gen. Burnside was added as a re- 

 serve against all contingencies. After the first 

 day's encounter, it was found necessary to order 

 up this reserve in haste, and in the subsequent 

 battles every brigade was fully employed as a 

 part of the ordinary force. The subsequent 

 and immense reinforcement required by Gen. 

 Grant, after the battles at Spottsylvania Court 

 House, served to show the unexpected great 

 strength of the enemy in the field. 



Several cooperating movements were in pro- 

 gress during the advance thus far of Gen. Grant. 

 On Monday the 9th of May, the cavalry force 

 connected with Gen. Grant's army commenced 

 an advance to cut the communications between 

 Gen. Lee's army and Richmond. At daylight, 

 the march began, with Gen. Merritt's 1st di- 

 vision in advance, Gen. Wilson's 3d division in 

 the centre, and Gen. Gregg's 2d division in the 

 rear. The movement was first toward Fred- 

 ericksburg. At a distance of three miles from 

 that city the column turned to the right and 

 passed round the right flank of the enemy to 

 the south of Spottsylvania Court House, on the 

 road to Childsburgh, at which place a halt was 

 made. Moving thence on the same road south- 



