Thus stood the command on the morning of the 4th of May, but by the shock of battle two days later all was changed.  Scarcely a commander of a regiment or brigade remained.  The two military giants of the nineteenth century were about to face each other, and put to the test the talents, tactics, and courage of their respective antagonists.  Both had been successful beyond all precedent, and both considered themselves invincible in the field.  Grant had tact and tenacity, with an overwhelming army behind him.  Lee had talent, impetuosity, and boldness, with an army of patriots at his command, who had never known defeat; and considered themselves superior in courage and endurance to any body of men on earth.  Well might the clash of arms in the Wilderness of these mighty giants cause the civilized world to watch and wonder.  Lee stood like a lion in the path—­his capital behind him, his army at bay—­while Grant, with equal pugnacity, sought to crush him by sheer force of overwhelming numbers.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXIX

Battle of the Wilderness.

At midnight, on the 3rd of May, Grant put this mighty force of his in motion—­the greatest body of men moving to combat that had ever been assembled on the continent.  On the 4th his army crossed the Rapidan, at Germania and Ely’s Fords, and began moving out towards the turn-pike, leading from Orange Court House by way of the Wilderness to Fredericksburg.

On the 5th Ewell had a smart engagement on the turn-pike, while Heath’s and Wilcox’s Divisions, of Hill’s Corps, had met successfully a heavy force under Hancock, on the plank road—­two roads running parallel and about one mile distant.  Both armies closed the battle at night fall, each holding his own field.  However, the enemy strongly entrenched in front, while Hill’s troops, from some cause unexplainable, failed to take this precaution, and; had it not been for the timely arrival of Longstreet at a critical moment, might have been fatal to Lee’s Army.

On the morning of the 5th we had orders to march.  Foragers coming in the night before reported heavy firing in the direction of the Rapidan, which proved to be the cavalry engagement checking Grant at the river fords.  All felt after these reports, and our orders to march, that the campaign had opened.  All day we marched along unused roads—­through fields and thickets, taking every near cut possible.  Scarcely stopping for a moment to even rest, we found ourselves, at 5 o’clock in the evening, twenty-eight miles from our starting point.  Men were too tired and worn out to pitch tents, and hearing the orders “to be ready to move at midnight,” the troops stretched themselves upon the ground to get such comfort and rest as was possible.  Promptly at midnight we began to move again, and such a march, and under such conditions, was never before experienced by the troops.  Along blind roads, overgrown by