this order was soon revoked, and he was informed that
Grant wished "the whole matter of your future actions should be left
entirely to your own discretion." In Sherman's mind, the next steps to
be taken were "as clear as daylight." The progress of the war in the
West could now be described step by step, and its condition and probable
course be estimated with sound judgment. The opening of the Mississippi
River in the previous year had cut off from the rebellion the vast
resources west of the great river. Sherman's Meridian campaign in
February had rendered useless the railroads of the State of Mississippi.
The capture of Atlanta and the march to the sea had ruined the railroads
of Georgia, cutting off another huge slice of Confederate resources.
The battles of Franklin and Nashville had practically annihilated the
principal Confederate army in the West. Sherman now proposed to Grant
that he would subject the two Carolinas to the same process, by marching
his army through the heart of them from Savannah to Raleigh.

"The game is then up with Lee," he confidently added, "unless he comes
out of Richmond, avoids you, and fights me, in which case I should
reckon on your being on his heels.... If you feel confident that you can
whip Lee outside of his intrenchments, I feel equally confident that I
can handle him in the open country."

Grant promptly adopted the plan, and by formal orders directed Sherman
to execute it. Several minor western expeditions were organized to
contribute to its success. The Union fleet on the coast was held in
readiness to cooeperate as far as possible with Sherman's advance, and to
afford him a new base of supply, if, at some suitable point he should
desire to establish communications with it. When, in the middle of
January, 1865, a naval expedition captured Fort Fisher at the mouth of
Cape Fear River, an army corps under General Schofield was brought east
from Thomas's Army of the Tennessee, and sent by sea to the North
Carolina coast to penetrate into the interior and form a junction with
Sherman when he should arrive.

Having had five weeks for rest and preparation, Sherman began the third
stage of his campaign on February 1, with a total of sixty thousand men,
provisions for twenty days, forage for seven, and a full supply of
ammunition for a great battle. This new undertaking proved a task of
much greater difficulty and severer hardship than his march to the sea.
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