The next I heard of Mr. Swinton was at Cold Harbor.  General Meade came to my headquarters saying that General Burnside had arrested Swinton, who at some previous time had given great offence, and had ordered him to be shot that afternoon.  I promptly ordered the prisoner to be released, but that he must be expelled from the lines of the army not to return again on pain of punishment.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

Commencement of the grand campaign—­general butler’s position —­Sheridan’s first raid.

The armies were now all ready to move for the accomplishment of a single object.  They were acting as a unit so far as such a thing was possible over such a vast field.  Lee, with the capital of the Confederacy, was the main end to which all were working.  Johnston, with Atlanta, was an important obstacle in the way of our accomplishing the result aimed at, and was therefore almost an independent objective.  It was of less importance only because the capture of Johnston and his army would not produce so immediate and decisive a result in closing the rebellion as would the possession of Richmond, Lee and his army.  All other troops were employed exclusively in support of these two movements.  This was the plan; and I will now endeavor to give, as concisely as I can, the method of its execution, outlining first the operations of minor detached but co-operative columns.

As stated before, Banks failed to accomplish what he had been sent to do on the Red River, and eliminated the use of forty thousand veterans whose cooperation in the grand campaign had been expected—­ten thousand with Sherman and thirty thousand against Mobile.

Sigel’s record is almost equally brief.  He moved out, it is true, according to programme; but just when I was hoping to hear of good work being done in the valley I received instead the following announcement from Halleck:  “Sigel is in full retreat on Strasburg.  He will do nothing but run; never did anything else.”  The enemy had intercepted him about New Market and handled him roughly, leaving him short six guns, and some nine hundred men out of his six thousand.

The plan had been for an advance of Sigel’s forces in two columns.  Though the one under his immediate command failed ingloriously the other proved more fortunate.  Under Crook and Averell his western column advanced from the Gauley in West Virginia at the appointed time, and with more happy results.  They reached the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad at Dublin and destroyed a depot of supplies, besides tearing up several miles of road and burning the bridge over New River.  Having accomplished this they recrossed the Alleghanies to Meadow Bluffs and there awaited further orders.

Butler embarked at Fort Monroe with all his command, except the cavalry and some artillery which moved up the south bank of the James River.  His steamers moved first up Chesapeake Bay and York River as if threatening the rear of Lee’s army.  At midnight they turned back, and Butler by daylight was far up the James River.  He seized City Point and Bermuda Hundred early in the day, without loss and, no doubt, very much to the surprise of the enemy.