Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant to Edwin M. Stanton, March 25, 1865 – 1:30 p.m.

CITY POINT, VA., March 25, 1865 — 1.30 p.m.

Hon. E. M. STANTON,

Secretary of War:

The following dispatch of General Parke is received from General Meade:

The enemy attacked my front this morning at about 4.30 with three divisions, under command of General Gordon. By a sudden rush they seized the line held by the Third Brigade, First Division, at the foot of the hill, to the right of Fort Stedman, wheeled, and, overpowering the garrison, took possession of the fort. They established themselves on the hill, turning our guns upon us. Our troops on either flank stood firm. Soon after a determined attack was made on Fort Haskell, held by part of McLaughlen's brigade, Willcox's division, and was repulsed with great loss to the enemy. The First Brigade of Hartranft's division, held in reserve, was brought up, and a check given to any further advance. One or two attempts to retake the hill were made, and were only temporarily successful, until the arrival of the Second Brigade, when a charge was made by that brigade, aided by the troops of the First Division, on either flank, and the enemy were driven out of the fort, with the loss of a number of prisoners, estimated at about 1,600. Two battle-flags have also been brought in. The enemy also lost heavily in killed outside of our lines. The whole line was immediately reoccupied, and the guns retaken uninjured. I regret to add that General McLaughlen was captured in Fort Stedman; our loss was otherwise not heavy. Great praise is due to General Hartranft for the skill and gallantry displayed in handling his division, which behaved with great spirit in this its first engagement.

JNO. G. PARKE,

Major-General, Commanding.

U.S. GRANT,

Lieutenant-General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I Volume 46, Part 3 (Serial No. 97), p. 109-10

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, March 25, 1865

March 25, 1865

We may indeed call this a many-sided field-day: a breakfast with a pleasure party, an assault and a recapture of an entrenched line, a review by the President of a division of infantry, and sharp fighting at sundry points of a front of eighteen miles! If that is not a mixed affair, I would like to know what is? It has been a lucky day, for us; and the 9th Corps, after patient waiting for eight months, have played the game of the “Mine” against their antagonists. The official despatches will give you the main facts very well, but I can add some particulars. About daylight, the enemy having massed three divisions and a part of a fourth, made a sudden rush and carried Fort Stedman and about half a mile of line commanded by it. The garrisons of the forts on either side stood firm, however, and repelled a severe attack with much injury to the enemy. Meantime, General Parke had ordered that the works should be retaken, if it cost every man in the Corps; and all the scattered regiments immediately at hand were put in and checked a further advance, until General Hartranft (I'm not sure about the spelling of his name) brought up the 3d division, which had been camped in reserve. He personally led in one brigade of it, with conspicuous gallantry, retook the whole portion lost, and captured, at one swoop, 1800 Rebels. It was just the “Mine,” turned the other way: they got caught in there and could not get out. Their loss also in killed and wounded must have been severe, not only from musketry, but also from canister, which was thrown into a ravine by which they retreated. Upwards of a hundred Rebel dead lay in and round Fort Stedman alone. Our own losses in the 9th Corps will be somewhat over 800, half of whom may be reckoned prisoners, taken in the first surprise. I should guess the loss of their opponents as not less than 2600.

SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness to Appomattox, p. 322-3

Brigadier General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, May 19, 1862

CAMP OPPOSITE FREDERICKSBURG, May 19, 1862.

I hardly know when I last wrote to you, though I know it has been several days longer than I intended; but I have recently been on a Court of Inquiry, and to-day my brigade was reviewed and inspected by Inspector General Van Rensselaer; so that I have been so busy as to have been prevented from writing to you.

McDowell has been to Washington, but what has occurred is unknown. McCall is not to be disturbed, at least at present. Ord has been assigned to the new division of which Hartranft, Ricketts and Bayard are the brigadiers.

The cars are running to the river, and the bridge for the railroad is nearly completed. We now await the arrival of General Shields's division, when I suppose we will start for Richmond. We hear nothing of McClellan, beyond the fact that he has rested from pushing the enemy to the wall. Things are coming to a focus, both at Richmond and at Corinth. If we should be successful at both places, I think the South had better give it up, though there is no telling what they will do or what we will have to do. Subjugation is very easy to talk about, but not quite so easy to execute. All we can do is to be patient and await coming events.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 266-7