TAR HEEL GRIT
BY 6 A.M., on May 12, 1864, news began to arrive in quick succession, some by telegraph and some by courier—the plan had worked. Major General Winfield S. Hancock’s 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac, had smashed into the protrusion jutting out from the Confederate lines near Spotsylvania Court House, Va. Each report painted an even more devastating picture: The Rebel earthworks had been breached, Union troops were pouring into the salient, and thousands of prisoners had been captured, including two generals.
Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s staffers could not contain their jubilation. “Great rejoicing now burst forth. Some of Grant’s Staff were absurdly confident and
