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FIFE FORKS AND THE PURSUIT OF LEE.

While standing in front of the general’s tent onthe morning of the 30th, discussing the situationwith several others on the staff, I saw GeneralSheridan turning in from the Vaughan road with astaff-officer and an escort of about a dozen cavalry-men, and coming toward our headquarters camp.He was riding his white pacer, a horse which hadbeen captured from General Breckinridge’s adju-tant-general at Missionary Ridge. But, instead ofstriking a pacing gait now, it was at every step driv-ing its legs knee-deep into the quicksand with theregularity of a pile-driver. As soon as Sheridan dis-mounted, he was asked with much eagerness aboutthe situation on the extreme left. He took adecidedly cheerful view of matters, and enteredupon a very animated discussion of the comingmovements. He said he could drive in the wholecavalry force of the enemy with ease, and if an in-fantry force were added to his command he wouldstrike out for Lee’s right and either crush it orforce him so to weaken his intrenched lines thatthe troops in front of them could breakthrough andmarch into Petersburg. He warmed up with thesubject as he proceeded, threw the whole energy ofhis nature into the discussion, and his cheery voice,beaming countenance, and impassioned languageshowed the earnestness of his convictions.

“How do you propose to supply your commandwith forage if this weather lasts ? ” he was askedby one of the group.

‘ ‘ Porage ? ” said Sheridan ; “I’ll get all theforage I want. I’ll haul it out if I have to set everyman in the command to corduroying roads, andcorduroy every mile of them from the railroad toDinwiddie. I tell you I’m ready to strike out to-morrow and go to smashing things.” And, pacingup and down, he chafed like a hound in the leash.We told him this was the kind of talk we liked tolisten to at headquarters, and while General Grantfully coincided in these views it would still furtherconfirm him in his judgment to hear such words ashad just been spoken; we' urged Sheridan to goand talk in the same strain to the general-in-chief, who was in his tent with General Rawlins.Sheridan, however, objected to obtruding himselfunbidden upon his commander. Then we resortedto a bit of strategy. One of us went into the gen-eral’s tent and told him Sheridan had just come infrom the left and had been telling us some mattersof much interest, and suggested that he be invitedin and asked to state them. This was assented to,and Sheridan was told the general wanted to hearwhat he had to say. Sheridan then went in andbegan to speak to General Grant as he had beenspeaking to the staff. Several persons soon aftercame into the tent, and General Sheridan steppedout and accompanied General Ingalls to the latter’stent. A few minutes later General Grant went tothis tent, General Ingalls came out, and Grant andSheridan fully discussed the situation. In spite ofthe opposition which had arisen in some quartersto continuing offensive operations, owing to thestate of the weather and the deplorable con-dition of the roads, General Grant decided topress the movement against the enemy with allvigor.

After his twenty-minutes talk with Grant, Sheri-dan mounted his horse, and, waving us a good-byewith his hand, rode off to Dinwiddie. The nextmorning, the 31st, he reported that the enemy hadbeen hard at work intrenching at Five Forksandto a point about a mile west of there. Lee had <been as prompt as Grant to recognize that FiveForks was a strategic point of great importance,and, to protect his right, had sent Pickett therewith a large force of infantry and nearly all thecavalry. The rain continued during the night ofthe 30th, and on the morning of the 31st theweather was cloudy and dismal.

General Grant had expected that Warren wouldbe attacked that morning, and had warned him tobe on the alert. Warren advanced his corps toascertain with what force the enemy held theWhite Oak road and to try to drive him fromit; but before he had gone far he met with a vig-orous assault. When news came of the attackGeneral Grant directed me to go to the spot andlook to the situation of affairs there. I foundAyres’s division had been driven in, and both heand Crawford were falling back upon Griffin.Miles, of Humphreys’s corps, was sent to reen-force Warren, and by noon the enemy was checked.As soon as General Grant was advised of the situ-ation, he directed General Meade to take the offen-sive vigorously. Miles made a movement to theleft and attacked in flank the troops in front ofWarren, and the enemy soon fell back. GeneralGrant had now ridden out to the front, and hearingthat he was at Mrs. Butler’s house near the Boyd-ton plank-road, I joined him there. It was then alittle after 1 o’clock. He had in the meantimeordered the headquarters camp to be moved toDabney’s Mill, on a cross-road running from theBoydton plank to the Vaughan road, and about twomiles from Meade ’s headquarters, which were nearthe crossing of the Vaughan road and Hatcher’sRun. The general was becoming apprehensivelest the infantry force that had moved againstWarren might turn upon Sheridan, who hadonly cavalry with which to resist, as the weatherhad rendered it impracticable thus far to sendhim a corps of infantry as intended, and thegeneral-in-cliief was urgent that a strong for-ward movement should be made by the Fifth Corpsfor the purpose of deterring the enemy from de-taching infantry from that portion of his line.This advance was made later in the afternoon, andwith decided success. When this movement hadbeen decided upon, General Grant directed me togo to Sheridan and explain what was taking placein Warren’s and in .Humphreys’s front, and havea full understanding with him as to further opera-tions in his vicinity. I rode rapidly down theBoydton plank-road, and soon came to GravellyRun. Hearing heavy firing in the direction of theFive Forks road, I hurried on in that direction.Crossing by the Brooks road from the Boydtonplank to the Five Forks road, which runs northfrom Dinwiddie, I saw a portion of our cavalrymoving eastward, pressed by a heavy force of theenemy, and it was found that Devin and Davies,after holding on tooth and nail for hours, had