General Butler had signally failed to accomplish the work given him to do. Instead of taking Petersburg, destroying the railroads connecting Richmond with the south, and laying siege to that city, he had, after some ineffectual manoeuvring, got his army hemmed in, "bottled up," Grant called it, at Bermuda Hundred, where he was almost completely out of the offensive movement for months. Sigel had been worsted in the North, and had been relieved by Hunter, who had won measurable success in the Shenandoah Valley. Grant, checked on the east and north of Richmond, crossed the Chickahominy and the James with his whole army by a series of masterly manoeuvres, regarding the meaning of which his opponent was brilliantly deceived. Then followed the unsuccessful attempt to capture Petersburg before it could be reinforced, unsuccessful by reason of the want of persistence on the part of the general intrusted with the duty. This failure involved a long siege of that place, which the Confederates made impregnable to assault. A breach in the defences was made by the explosion of a mine constructed with vast labor, but there was failure to follow up the advantage with sufficient promptness. Here the Army of the Potomac passed the winter, except the part of the army that was detached to protect Washington from threatened attack, and with which Sheridan made his great fame in the Shenandoah Valley. Meanwhile Sherman, in the West, had taken Atlanta, and leaving Hood's army to be taken care of by Thomas, who defeated it at Nashville, had marched across Georgia, and was making his way through the Carolinas northward toward Richmond, an army under Johnston disputing his way by annoyance, impediment, and occasional battle. Another incident of the winter was the two attempts on Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, North Carolina,--the first, under General Butler, a failure; the second, under General Terry, a brilliant success. All these movements were in execution of plans and directions given by the lieutenant-general. It was the 29th of March when, all preparations having been made, Grant began the final movement. He threw a large part of his army into the region west of Petersburg and south of Richmond, and at Five Forks, four days later, Sheridan fought a brilliant and decisive battle, which compelled Lee to abandon both Petersburg and Richmond, and to attempt to save his army by running away and joining Johnston. All his movements were baffled by the eager Union generals, flushed with the consciousness that the end was near.