country, he attempted to turn Butler's right flank. A sharp conflict ensued, in which the Nationals had about four thousand men engaged, and the Confederates about three thousand. It ended by  the retirement of Butler's forces within their intrenchments. For several days afterward there was considerable skirmishing in front of Butler's lines, when he received orders to send nearly two-thirds of his effective men to the north side of the James River to assist the army contending with Lee in the vicinity of the Chickahominy. Butler complied with the requisition, which deprived him of all power to make further offensive movements. "The necessities of the Army of the Potomac," he said, "have bottled me up at Bermuda Hundred."
While General Butler's main army was making movements toward Richmond, Kautz was out upon another raid on the railways leading to that city from the south and southwest. He left Bermuda Hundred on the 12th of May, with two mounted brigades; passed near Fort Darling,  on Drewry's Bluff, and sweeping on an arc of a circle by Chesterfield Court-House, struck the Richmond and Danville Railway eleven miles west of the Confederate capital. After again striking it at other points, he swept around eastward, divided his forces, and with a part of them crossed to the Southside Railway, while another portion proceeded to the junction of the Danville and Southside roads. Then he went eastward with his whole force, striking and destroying the Weldon Railway far toward the North Carolina line, and then made his way back to City Point. In this raid Kautz had seriously damaged the railroads that lay in his track, and took to City Point one hundred and fifty prisoners.
After the struggles near Spottsylvania Court-House, Grant moved steadily on toward Richmond, while Lee moved on a parallel line to thwart his antagonist's plans. At the passage of the North Anna, they fought a severe battle on the 23rd of May. There, in close communication with the Central Virginia Railway, Lee had evidently determined to make a stand. Over that railway, Breckenridge, who had beaten Sigel in the Shenandoah Valley, was hastening to reinforce Lee, and Grant resolved to dislodge his antagonist before aid should reach him. This was accomplished, when Lee withdrew to a stronger position where Grant did not attack him. The Army of the Potomac pressed steadily forward, with Sheridan's cavalry in advance, and on the 28th of May, the entire force of the Nationals were south of the Pamunkey River, with an uninterrupted communication with their new base of supplies at the ruins of the "White House" near the mouth of that stream. Lee had moved by a shorter road, and occupied a strong position on the Chickahominy River, which commanded a turnpike and two railways that led to Richmond.
Across the Chickahominy River was the only direct pathway to the Confederate capital, and to pursue it, Lee must be dislodged. The cavalry of both armies had sharp engagements at the close of May, While reconnaissances were going on; when Grant, believing he could not successfully assail his antagonist in his strong position, began another flanking movement with the intention. of crossing the Chickahominy near Cold Harbor where Sheridan had gained an advantageous foothold. There the army was reinforced by ten thousand men sent from Bermuda Hundred, led by General W. F. Smith; and there, from the 1st to the 3rd of June (1864), there was a fearful struggle on the old battle-ground of Lee and McClellan two years before. On the 3rd, one of the most sanguinary battles of the war was fought. It was brief, but terrible. Within the space of twenty minutes after the first shot was fired, ten thousand Union soldiers were killed or wounded. The battle ended at one o'clock in the afternoon, the Nationals holding their ground. They moved gradually to the left, and on the 7th of June that wing touched the Chickahominy River. Then Sheridan was sent to destroy the railways on Lee's left, which he did as far as Gordonsville.
General Grant now determined to transfer his army to the south side of the James River, cut off the chief sources of supply of men and provisions for Lee's army from the South, and attempt the capture of Richmond from that direction. At near the middle of June the whole army crossed the Chickahominy at Long Bridge, and moved to the James by way of Charles City Court-House. They crossed that river in boats and
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