enable our infantry to reach Spottsylvania first, and thus force Lee

to take up a line behind the Po. I had directed Wilson to move from

the left by "the Gate" through Spottsylvania to Snell's bridge, while

Gregg and Merritt were to advance to the same point by Shady Grove

and the Block House. There was nothing to prevent at least a partial

success of these operations; that is to say, the concentration of the

three divisions in front of Snell's bridge, even if we could not

actually have gained it. But both that important point and the

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