In these two pictures appear the two capitals that were mistakenly made the goals of the military operations on both sides.
The Confederates threatened
Washington at the outset of the war, and realizing the effectiveness of such a move in giving moral rather than military support to their cause, similar movements were repeated throughout the war. For a like reason “On to
Richmond” was the cry at the
North until
Grant took command and made the army of
Lee and its ultimate reduction to an ineffective state his controlling purpose.
With the investment of
Petersburg by the
Federals,
Lee's proper military move would have been the abandonment of
Richmond and the opposing of
Grant along other lines.
|
Richmond in ruins, occupied by the Federals |