made such a firm and brave stand that he won the name of "Rock of Chickamauga." Some of his officers showed equal courage, for when one was asked how long he could hold a certain pass, he firmly answered: "Until the regiment is mustered out of service."

When the battle was all over, Thomas retreated to Chattanooga, where Bragg followed and besieged the Union army. Now began a hard time for the Union troops, for they had hardly enough food for the men. Besides, forage was so scarce that most of the mules died. Indeed, one soldier described a march near Chattanooga, saying: "The mud was so deep that we could not travel by the road, but we got along pretty well by stepping from mule to mule as they lay dead by the way."

There was so much danger that the army might retreat or surrender, that Thomas was put in command at Chattanooga, and Grant sent him orders to hold fast till he came. Thomas nobly answered: "We will hold the town till we starve." In a few days Grant reached Chattanooga, and soon after the army was reënforced by Sherman and Hooker.

Battles were now fought near Chattanooga, first at Orchard Knob and the day after on Lookout Mountain. As lowering clouds cut off all view of the summit during the greater part of this engagement, you will often hear it called the "Battle above the Clouds.” The next day, the Union troops won a great victory on Missionary Ridge, so that at the end of three days' fighting the Confederates were driven away.

The next move made by Union forces was Sherman's raid across Mississippi, from Vicksburg, early in 1864. His aim was to destroy bridges and railroads over which

supplies could be sent to the Confederate army, and to burn mills and factories. He did this so thoroughly, and left so little standing at Me-rid'i-an, that one person remarked: "Sherman didn't simply smash things, but he just carried the town off with him."

HERMAN'S raid prevented the Confederates from

spent a quiet winter. When the spring of 1864 came on, Grant was made commander in chief of the whole army,

with the rank of lieutenant general, a rank which had been given only to Washington and Scott before him. Grant had been so fortunate in all his efforts that every one felt great confidence in him, and while Lincoln said that at last he had a man at the head of the army, the rest of the people, referring to his initials, playfully spoke of him as "Uniformly Successful" Grant, "United States" Grant, "Unconditional Surrender" Grant, and "Uncle Sam's" Grant.

As soon as Grant received this appointment, he met Sherman, and they two together formed a clever plan to carry on the war. As there were now only two large Confederate armies, it was agreed that Grant should face Lee, near Richmond, while Sherman should beat Johnston, and then push on across Georgia to the sea, destroying all supplies on his way, so that the South should have to cease making war. It was further agreed that they should set out to do this on the same day.

Grant now went to join the forces in the East, and led them across the Rap-id-an' into the Wilderness, to begin his famous "hammering campaign." It was in May that his army started, and, sitting on a log by the roadside, Grant wrote the telegram which ordered Sherman to commence fighting.

As soon as Sherman received this dispatch, he set out, with about one hundred thousand men, to meet Johnston, with about one half that number, at Dalton. But Johnston placed his forces in the mountains and woods in good positions, and always retreated in time to avoid a disastrous defeat. Sherman, therefore, had to fight bloody battles at Dalton, Resaca, Dallas, Lost Mountain, and

Ken-e-saw' Mountain, while driving Johnston back to At-lan'ta.

This sort of fighting-which was the wisest thing Johnston could do-made President Davis so angry that, hoping to settle matters by one big victory, he took the command away from Johnston and gave it to Hood. The latter was very energetic; but although three more battles were fought, and each army lost thousands of men in this campaign, Sherman went on, and soon entered Atlanta. Then he telegraphed to Washington the news: "Atlanta is ours, and fairly won."

Marching thus into the Confederate country, Sherman found the railroads destroyed by the Confederates, who

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hoped thus to prevent his advance and to cut off his supplies. But he had a force of men who rapidly rebuilt the roads, and trains quickly followed his troops to bring them food and ammunition. The engineers who laid tracks and built bridges were so skilled, and their men worked so fast, that they really did wonders.

The Confederates were amazed to see how promptly the damage they had done was repaired. Once, when some one suggested blowing up a tunnel so as to check Sherman's trains, a man cried out: "No use, boys; Old Sherman carries duplicate tunnels with him, and will replace them as fast as you can blow them up; better save your powder!"

Hoping to prevent Sherman's doing any harm to Atlanta, or going farther south, Hood suddenly set out for Tennessee, thinking the Union army would follow to stop him. This, however, was just what Sherman wanted, and as soon as he was quite sure that Hood had gone, he sent word to Thomas at Nashville to look out for himself. Thomas, he knew, was calm and very deliberate. After keeping Hood waiting for about two weeks, General Thomas suddenly came out of the city, and in a hard two days' fight completely defeated him. In this battle the Confederates fought so bravely that when it was all over they had no army left wherewith to pursue Sherman.

Sherman, in the meantime, had gone steadily on, and had burned the rich stores and fine mills and factories of Atlanta. The churches and dwelling houses were not harmed, for Sherman's object was only to destroy the shops and factories which supplied the Southern army with arms, food, garments, or anything else.