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himself more frequently of his vast preponderance of numbers, and thus by attrition
accomplish what he never could accomplish by strategy. In Lee's hands, with
anything approaching the proportions of an army under his command, Grant was
but a pigmy, and well he knew it. Attrition, therefore, was henceforth to be the
policy of the Federal commander, and in this he showed his wisdom, but it was an
unmilitary one, and cannot reflect creditably upon his reputation as a great military
chieftain. Grant, therefore, began to pinch Lee harder wherever it was possible.
He captured Fort Harrison, a work of much importance, and one which Lee in
vain attempted to recapture.

Slowly, but surely, the Confederate Army was dwindling away. Hundreds of
desertions were occurring every day, and the inevitable was not far off. Men were
starving, and were naked in the trenches. The sufferings of the poor fellows were
beyond endurance. Their families were appealing to them for relief; their wives
and children were at home reduced to gaunt spectres, and these appeals caused
many a brave man, who had faced the enemy upon a hundred bloody battle-fields,
to leave his comrades and wend his way to his desolate home. Their excuse was
that all was over, and now they had a sacred duty to perform in protecting their
loved ones. To some this seemed akin to desertion, but there certainly was some
justification for the act.

These numerous desertions entailed additional duties upon the Second Mary-
land. It had been reduced to little more than two hundred men, but these two
hundred men were expected to do the duty of a regiment. So far but one desertion
had occurred from its ranks, and that was the only one that ever did occur. They
were, therefore, kept almost constantly upon picket duty, for the Marylanders
could be trusted where others could not be.

Thus the weary, dismal winter passed slowly away. There had been during
that time some welcome visitors to the camp of the Second Maryland, and among
them Colonel George P. Kane, of Baltimore. He was shocked at the condition of
the men, and he was moreover surprised at their cheerfulness under such trying
circumstances. When he left the boys he promised them each a new uniform and
a change of underclothing. He kept his promise, and on the 4th of March, 1865,
they arrived. Many a " God bless you, Colonel Kane," went up from those poor
boys as they threw aside the miserable rags in which they were clad and donned
their comfortable suits.

But to go back a few weeks : February 5, 1865, was a memorable day in the
annals of the Second Maryland. About 10 o'clock of that day the brigade, now
under command of Colonel William McComb, was moved to the right near
Hatcher's Run, where it joined heavy bodies of troops. At 3 o'clock P. M. the
whole force crossed their breastworks, and passing over a broad open space
between the two picket lines, and obliquely to the right, entered a swampy woods,