VOA慢速英语2014 冷港防御战让李赢得最后一次大胜利

Strong Defense¹ at Cold Harbor Gives Lee His Last Major Victory 冷港防御战让李赢得最后一次大胜利

From VOA Learning English, this is The Making of a Nation. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly. 

And I’m Christopher Cruise. 

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln named General Ulysses Grant commander of all Union armies. Lincoln hoped that Grant could end the nearly three-year-long Civil War. 

Grant noted² that, in the past, the separate Union armies had moved and fought independently. He said they were like a poorly trained team of horses. No two of them ever pulled at the same time in the same direction. 

Under his command, Grant said, the Union armies would pull together -- they would all attack at the same time. The main target, once again, was the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. 

Grant’s Overland Campaign began in May 1864. One of the first battles was about halfway³ between Richmond and Washington, DC. 

The Union Army of the Potomac and Confederate Army of Northern Virginia clashed in a wooded area west of Fredericksburg, Virginia.? 

The battle quickly became a blind struggle. The woods were thick. The smoke was heavy. The soldiers could not see each other until they were very close. Shells set the trees on fire. The wounded could not escape the flames. Their screams filled the air.

After two days, General Grant decided⁴ that the wilderness⁵ was not the place to fight the Confederate force under General Robert E. Lee. Grant wanted to fight in the open, where he could use his artillery⁶. So he marched his men toward a place called Spotsylvania Court House. 

Lee moved his men as fast as Grant moved his. When the Union army reached Spotsylvania, the Confederates were waiting behind walls of earth and stone. 

For several more days, the two armies fought. At times, they were so close they had no time to load and fire their guns. So they used their guns to hit each other. 

The Confederate line bent⁷. But it never broke. Once again, Lee had stopped the Union army.

Grant refused to accept defeat. He said he would fight to the finish, if it took all summer. Once again, he ordered his men to march around the end of Lee's line. Lee quickly pulled his men back to a place called Cold Harbor, not far from Richmond.

While the Union army marched and then rested, Confederate troops built a complex system of trenches⁸. By the time the Union army was prepared to attack, Lee’s men were ready behind these defenses. 

As he had done in the wilderness and at Spotsylvania, Grant ordered his men to attack hard. But Lee’s soldiers, protected by their trenches, slaughtered⁹ the Union forces. In less than an hour, 7,000 Union soldiers fell dead or wounded.

Grant finally stopped the attack. The Union soldiers returned to their lines. They left behind hundreds of wounded men. 

For four days, the wounded lay on the battlefield crying for help, for water. Men who tried to rescue them were shot down. Finally, Grant and Lee agreed on a ceasefire to care for the wounded. 

But the ceasefire came too late for most. They had died. In the end, nearly 13,000 Union troops were killed, missing, or wounded at Cold Harbor. The South suffered only about 4,500 casualties.

The battle at Cold Harbor was General Lee’s last major victory in the Civil War. It also showed how the war had changed. Taking a strong defensive¹⁰ position, as Lee had done, had proved more important than launching a powerful attack.

Still, General Grant was resolved to defeat the Confederate forces and take their capital. He planned his next moves. 

Words in This Story 

trenches – n. deep, narrow holes dug in the ground; a hole that is used as protection for soldiers 

slaughtered – v. killed many people in a violent way 

ceasefire – n. a halt in fighting, usually by agreement 

proved – v. turned out to be 

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

7 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

8 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

9 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。