Federal War Plans for 1864

Federal War Plans for 1864. The Bermuda Hundred Campaign. In March of 1864 Ulysses S. Grant was placed in command of all Federal forces. Grant's plan to end the war envisioned a multi-front invasion across the entire Confederacy to negate the South's ability to shift forces from one front to another., In the west, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman would move toward Atlanta while Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks would operate against Mobile, Alabama from his base at New Orleans., In Virginia Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel would advance up the Shenandoah Valley from Winchester to Staunton. Maj. Gen. George Meade would send 121,000 troops of the Army of the Potomac across the Rapidan River against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler would land the Army of the James at Bermuda Hundred and make a direct threat on Petersburg or Richmond., These operations began on May 5, 1864. Over the next month and a half, Grant and Lee would engage in some of the bloodiest fighting of the war, leaving thousands of dead and wounded scattered across the Virginia countryside., (captions) , Ulysses S. Grant, Commander of all Federal forces. Library of Congress , Robert E. Lee, commander of the Amy of Northern Virginia Library of Congress , Federal War Plan in the West Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia , Federal War Plan in the East Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia , This sign was sponsored by Drs. Pat and Michael Stevens, Fredericksburg, VA