e force in West Virginia.

On the 3d of May the order to move was given, and at midnight the start
was made. The advance guard crossed the river before four in the morning
of the 4th, and on the morning of the 5th Grant's army, nearly a hundred
thousand strong, was disposed in the Wilderness. Lee had discovered the
movement promptly, and had moved his whole army to the right,
determined to fall upon Grant in that unfavorable place. As soon as the
Union army began a movement in the morning, it encountered the enemy,
who attacked with tremendous and confident vigor. The fighting continued
all day, with indecisive results. Early the next morning the battle was
renewed, and continued with varying fortunes, at one time one army, and
at another time the opposing army, having the advantage. There was, in
fact, a series of desperate battles between different portions of the
two armies which did not end until the night was far advanced. The
advantage, on the whole, was with the Union army. It had not been forced
back over the Rapidan. It stood fast. But it had inflicted no such
defeat on the enemy as Grant had hoped to do in the first encounter. The
losses of both sides had been very large, those of the Union Army being
3288 killed, 19,278 wounded, 6784 missing.

The next morning it was discovered that the Confederates had retired to
their intrenchments, and were not seeking battle. Then Grant gave the
order that was decisive, and revealed to the Army of the Potomac that it
had a new spirit over it. The order was, "Forward to Spottsylvania!" No
more turning back, no more resting on a doubtful result. "Forward!" to
the finish. But Lee, controlling shorter lines, was at Spottsylvania
beforehand, and had seized the roads and fortified himself. Here again
was bloody fighting of a most determined character, lasting several
days. Here Hancock, by a daring assault, captured an angle of the
enemy's works, with a large number of guns and prisoners; and it was
held, despite the repeated endeavors of the enemy to recapture it. Here
General Sedgwick was killed. Here Upton made a famous assault on the
enemy's line and broke through it, want of timely and vigorous support
preventing this exploit from making an end of Lee's army then and there.
But the Union losses at Spottsylvania, while not so large as in the
Wilderness, were very heavy, and made a painful impression upon the
people of the North.

Undoubtedly Grant was disappointed by the