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| Back to the old base White House Landing, on the Pamunkey River, bustles with life in June, 1864. Once more, just before the battle of Cold Harbor, McClellan's old headquarters at the outset of the Peninsula Campaign of 1862 springs into great activity. River steamers and barges discharge their cargoes for the army that is again endeavoring to drive Lee across the Chickahominy and back upon Richmond. Grant's main reliance was upon the inexhaustible supplies which lay at the command of the North. He knew well that the decimated and impoverished South could not long hold out against the “hammering” which the greater abundance of Federal money and men made it possible for him to keep up. Hence, without haste but without rest, he attacked Lee upon every occasion and under all conditions, aware that his own losses, even if the greater, could be made up, while those of his antagonist could not. He believed that this was the surest and speediest way to end the war, and that all told it would involve the least sacrifice of blood and treasure. |
