THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
363 
ACCOUNT 
OB 
THE FINAL ATTACK AND CAPTURE OF RICHMOND BY THE FEDERAL 
AMERICAN ARMY, COMMANDED BY GENERAL GRANT. 
BY MAJOR H. A. SMYTH, E.A, 
COMMUNICATED BY THE DEPUTY-ADJUTANT-GENERAL, R.A. 
Montreal, 
April 30, 1865. 
Sir, 
I have the honor to forward the following observations on the recent 
operations of the American armies, for transmission to the Dept.-Adjt.~ 
General, to be submitted, if he shall think fit, to the notice of the Com- 
mander-in-Chief: I forwarded to him, during my leave of absence, some 
observations of an earlier date, and do not yet know whether they were of 
value ; but in this instance I think it probable that, as I was the only foreign 
officer present during the series of these the decisive operations of the war, 
a condensed account of my experience may have interest. I had the privilege 
of intimate acquaintance with General Meade, commanding the army of the 
Potomac, and many of the dispatches were read, and most matters openly 
discussed, in my hearing. 
The force concentrated against Richmond on the 27th March consisted 
of the army of the Potomac, General Meade, comprising 4 corps, each of 
about 22,000 men with 40 guns; the army of the James, General Orde, of 
2 corps of about the same strength; and the cavalry corps, General Sheridan, 
of about 12,000 mounted men with some batteries of horse artiHery; making 
a total of more than 140,000 men, the whole under the immediate super¬ 
intendence of the Commander of the Porces, General Grant. The force 
opposing this was variously reckoned at from 40,000 to 60,000 men; General 
Grant inclining to the lower and General Meade giving the highest estimate. 
This estimate was derived from a record which had been continuously kept 
for many months by officers of the information bureau, in which aU variations 
in the names, numbers and position of each corps, division, and brigade of 
the enemy were noted down as ascertained by observation and by reports from 
spies, deserters, and prisoners; which record, by comparison and correction 
from time to time, attained very great accuracy, and, in the examination of 
any fresh informant, was usually consulted as a test of his reliability. 
The position of the federal forces was fortified for a front of about 33 
miles, 15 miles of it running generally north and south on the east side of 
Richmond and Petersburg, and 18 miles of it passing round the south side 
