then did
he stop to take stock of his own injuries. "I propose to fight it out on
this line, if it takes all summer," was a characteristic utterance.

The honors of Union victories were fairly divided with Grant by William
Tecumseh Sherman, a man who, as a general, was greater in some respects
than his chief. Sherman was an Ohioan, and, after graduating from West
Point and serving in California during the war with Mexico, resigned
from the army to seek more lucrative employment. He was given a
regiment when the war opened, and his advance was rapid. He first showed
his real worth at the battle of Shiloh, where he commanded a division
and by superb fighting, saved Grant's reputation.

Grant had collected an army of forty thousand men at Pittsburg Landing,
an obscure stopping-place in southern Tennessee for Mississippi boats,
and though he knew that the Confederates were gathering at Corinth,
twenty miles away, he left his army entirely exposed, throwing up not a
single breastwork, never dreaming that the enemy would dare attack him.
Nevertheless, they did attack, while Grant himself was miles away from
his army, and by the end of the first day's fighting, had succeeded in
pushing the Union forces back upon the river, in a cramped and dangerous
position. The action was resumed next day, and the Confederates forced
to retire, which they did in good order. That the Union army was not
disastrously defeated was due largely to the superb leadership of
Sherman, who had three horses shot under him and was twice wounded, but
whose demeanor was so cool and inspiring that his raw troops, not
realizing their peril, were filled with confidence and fought like
veterans.

Sherman's fame increased rapidly after that. When Grant departed for the
East to take command of the Army of the Potomac, he planned for Sherman
a campaign against Atlanta, Georgia--a campaign which Sherman carried
out in the most masterly manner, marching into Atlanta in triumph on
September 2, 1864. The campaign had cost him thirty-two thousand men,
but the Confederate loss had been much heavier, and in Atlanta the
Confederacy lost one of its citadels. It was especially valuable because
of the great machine shops located there, and these Sherman proceeded to
destroy before starting on his famous "march to the sea."

This, the most spectacular movement of the whole war, was planned by
Sherman, who secured Grant's permission to carry it out, and the start
was made