One More River to Cross

From the gun pits served by McIntosh’s artillery battalion, you can easily see the natural strength of the Confederate position. The repulse of Ledlie’s brigade served as a warning to Grant that Lee was still on the North Anna in great strength and would fight to hold his line. On the evening of May 24, Grant found his army divided by the river into three parts.<br><br> Lee, due to personal illness, was unable to take advantage of Grant’s mistake. During the time when the enemy was most vulnerable to attack, Lee lay in his tent, repeating over and over again, &#8220;We must strike them a blow -- we must never let them pass us again -- we must strike them a blow.&#8221;<br><br> The Union army quickly dug in on each side of Lee’s &#8220;Inverted V&#8221; which resulted in siege warfare for the following two days. Periods of rain turned the trenches on both sides into mud baths and the ever-present sharpshooters on both sides forced the soldiers to stay low in their positions.<br><br> <i>(sidebar)</i><br> Presented to the people of the United States by Joseph F. Chance of Virginia.