y,
which are somewhat peculiar. Hatcher's Run is a branch of the Nottoway
River, which has its rise in a swamp about four miles from the
Appomattox and twenty southwest of Petersburg. The Southside Railroad
runs southwest from Petersburg, along the ridge of land between the
Appomattox and the head-waters of the Nottoway, protected by the swamp
of Hatcher's Run and by the swamp of Stony Creek, another tributary of
the Nottoway.

The point aimed at by General Grant is known as the "Five Forks," a
place where five roads meet, on the table-land between the head-waters
of Hatcher's Run and Stony Creek. It was the most accessible gateway
leading to the railroad. If he could break through at that point, he
would turn Lee's flank, deprive him of the protection of the swamps, use
them for his own cover, and seize the railroad. To take the Five Forks
was to take all; for the long and terrible conflict had become so shorn
of its outside proportions, so reduced to simple elements, that, if Lee
lost that position, all was lost,--Petersburg, Richmond, his army, and
the Confederacy.

Surprise is expressed that the Rebellion went down so suddenly, in a
night, at one blow, toppling over like a child's house of cards,
imposing to look upon, yet of very little substance; but the
calculations of General Grant were to give a finishing stroke.

If, by massing the main body of his troops upon the extreme left of his
line, he succeeded in carrying the position of the Five Forks, it would
compel Lee to evacuate Richmond. Lee's line of retreat must necessarily
be towards Danville; but Grant, at the Five Forks, would be nearer
Danville by several miles than Lee; and he would thus, instead of the
exterior line, have the interior, with the power to push Lee at every
step farther from his direct line of retreat. That Grant saw all this,
and executed his plan, is evidence of great military ability. The plan
involved not merely the carrying of the Five Forks, but great activity
afterwards. The capture of Lee was a forethought, not an afterthought.

"Commissaries will prepare twelve days' rations," was his order, which
meant a long march, and the annihilation of Lee's army. An ordinary
commander might have been satisfied with merely breaking down the door,
and seizing the railroad, knowing that it would be the beginning of
dissolution to the Rebel army; but Grant's plan went farther,--the
routing of the burglar from his house, and dispatching him o