By the close of March 1864 both the Union and Confederate governments asked the same question of when would warfare in Virginia begin anew, given that the wintering of armies was over and a new Union overall commander, Ulysses S. Grant, had assumed control over the Northern armies?
Since Grant had announced that he would accompany George Meade’s Army of the Potomac and that his headquarters would be in the field, observers on both sides of the American Civil War wondered when Grant would unleash the so-called Anaconda Plan against the South?
And where would Grant attack first, particularly against Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia? Anticipation and hope filled the hearts of Northerners, while Southerners experienced more than a fair share of stress and anxiety over their immediate future.