There the great
game went on, but the end was near. Lee had attempted, late in
February, to evacuate his lines, but was overruled. His army was
reduced to about forty thousand, while Grant's numbered about one
hundred and fifty thousand. The Confederate troops were almost naked,
and had scarce food enough to sustain life. They fought still, in the
trenches, along the great line of works, but it was plain, as Lee said,
that the line was stretched so far, that a very little more would snap
it.
That line extended from the Williamsburg road, east of Richmond to Five
Forks, west of Petersburg--a distance of nearly fifty miles. Gradually
Grant had pushed westward, until his grasp was now very nearly upon the
Southside road. Lee had extended his own thin line to still confront
him. The White Oak road, beyond the Rowanty, had been defended by heavy
works. The hill above Burgess's bristled with batteries. The extreme
right of the Confederate line rested in the vicinity of Five Forks.
Beyond that it could not be extended. Already it began to crack. Along
the works stretching from east to west, there was scarce a soldier
every ten yards. Grant was only prevented from bursting through by the
masterly handling of Lee's troops--the rapid concentration of masses at
the points which he threatened.
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