Pontoon-Bridges at Germanna Ford, on the Rapidan. Here the Sixth Corps
under Sedgwick and Warren's Fifth Corps began crossing on the morning of
May 4, 1864. The Second Corps, under Hancock, crossed at Ely's Ford,
farther to the east. The cavalry, under Sheridan, was in advance. By night
the army, with the exception of Burnside's Ninth Corps, was south of the
Rapidan, advancing into the Wilderness. The Ninth Corps (a reserve of
twenty thousand men) remained temporarily north of the Rappahannock,
guarding railway communications. On the wooden pontoon-bridge the
rear-guard is crossing while the pontonniers are taking up the canvas
bridge beyond. The movement was magnificently managed; Grant believed it
to be a complete surprise, as Lee had offered no opposition. That was yet
to come. In the baffling fighting of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court
House, Grant was to lose a third of his superior number, arriving a month
later on the James with a dispirited army that had left behind 54,926
comrades in a month.
[Illustration: THE TANGLED BATTLEFIELD