The arrival of Grant's trained veterans in July, 1864, restored security
to the capital city after a week of fright. The fact that shells had been
thrown into the outskirts of the city gave the inhabitants for the first
time a realizing sense of immediate danger. This scene is the neighborhood
of Fort Stevens, on the Seventh Street road, not far from the Soldiers'
Home, where President Lincoln was spending the summer. The campaign for
his reëlection had begun and the outlook for his success and that of his
party seemed at this moment as dubious as that for the conclusion of the
war. Grant had weakened his lines about Richmond in order to protect
Washington, while Lee had been able to detach Early's Corps for the
brilliant Valley Campaign, which saved his Shenandoah supplies.
[Illustration: GENERAL SHERIDAN'S "WINCHESTER"