Bloody Spring

In the spring of 1864, Robert E. Lee faced a new adversary: Ulysses S. Grant. Named commander of all Union armies in March, Grant quickly went on the offensive against Lee in Virginia. On May 4 Grant's army struck hard across the Rapidan River, with Lee's army contesting every mile. They fought for forty days until the Union army crossed the James River and began the siege of Petersburg. The campaign cost ninety thousand men.