Military
2
In March of 1864, Ulysses S. Grant was placed in command of all Federal forces and adopted a plan to end the war through a multi-front invasion across the Confederacy so the South could not shift forces from one front to another. In the west, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman would move toward Atlanta while Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks would operate against Mobile, Alabama, from New Orleans. In Virginia, Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel would advance up the Shenandoah Valley from Winchester to Staunton, Maj. Gen. George Meade would send 121,000 troops of the Army of the Potomac across the Rapidan River against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, and Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler would land the Army of the James at Bermuda Hundred and threaten Petersburg or Richmond directly. These operations began on May 5, 1864, and over the next month and a half Grant and Lee fought some of the bloodiest battles of the war, leaving thousands of dead and wounded across the Virginia countryside.
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Virginia · United States
