John Harrison Wilson, The life of Charles Henry Dana

[318] to the open country beyond, before Lee had sallied out and boldly brought them to bay. The situation was one of great peril. Under similar circumstances the Army of the Potomac had twice before given up its advance and recrossed the Rappahannock. On the night of the 6th the question arose in the minds of many as to whether it would not do so again. Grant had met Lee and had fought him two days without gaining a substantial victory. Would he fight him again, or would he retreat? For two hours--indeed, for all that night — the fate of Grant and of the great army under his command seemed hanging in the balance; but fortunately the lieutenant-general's courage proved to be equal to the great emergency, and with the determination to fight it out on that line if it took all summer, he pressed forward on the road to Richmond.

At this juncture Dana arrived on the scene of action, and was soon familiar with all that had taken place, and, what was better, was soon doing all in his power to support and encourage the forward movement. And the value of support and encouragement at this juncture will be better understood when the fact is recalled that there were only two generals and three staff-officers in all that army that had ever been in campaign or battle with Grant; that he was surrounded by strangers who, to say the least, were generally doubtful of his capacity to lead them successfully against Lee and his hitherto invincible veterans.

I found Dana at Grant's headquarters soon after his arrival, and from that time forth, whenever I could go to headquarters, or it was not too dangerous for him to come to me, we met frequently. He was in fine spirits, and from the day of his arrival he was, as of old, on terms of the closest intimacy with Grant and his staff. All were glad to see him and to assist him in getting the facts as they occurred. His despatches were sent daily, and even