2009年11月26日 星期四 一个民族的形成——美国历史系列：冷港之战

2009年11月26日 星期四   一个民族的形成——美国历史系列：冷港之战

THE MAKING OF A NATION - American History Series: The Battle of Cold Harbor

Written by Frank Beardsley

On July fourth, eighteen sixty-three, a huge Confederate army surrendered at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Union forces had surrounded the city for forty-seven days. Food was gone. The situation was hopeless. The Confederate commander gave up.

1863年7月4日，南部联军的庞大军团在密西西比河的维克斯堡投降。北方联军包围了整座城市，围困达47天。食物短缺，形势危急，南军统帅投降。

The terms of surrender were simple. The Confederate soldiers promised not to fight anymore. In return for this promise, they were released on parole and sent home to their families.

投降的条件很简单：南军士兵不再还击。为兑现诺言，他们被假释回家。

Never had Union forces won such a victory. Thirty thousand Confederate soldiers were now out of the war. Sixty thousand guns and one hundred seventy cannon were now in Union hands. The Mississippi River was now under Union control.

北军从未取得如此丰硕战果：3万南军全部退出战争，6万支枪、170门大炮尽归北军之手，北军控制了密西西比河。

This week in our series, Larry West and Maurice Joyce continue our story of the American Civil War.

本周在我们的系列栏目中，Larry West和 Maurice Joyce继续讲述我们这期的美国内战故事。

The victory at Vicksburg went to General Ulysses Grant. He was named commander of all Union armies in the west. Then he was sent to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

维克斯堡大捷传到了尤利西斯·格兰特将军那里。他被命为北方联军的西部司令，被派往田纳西州的查塔努加市。

The Union army there had just been defeated in a battle along a little river called the Chickamauga. Now the Union soldiers were resting and re-organizing in Chattanooga. The Confederate line stretched halfway around the city.

查克马佳小河边，北军新败，此时正在查塔努加市（稍作）休憩，重振兵马，南军战线入侵城市近半。

The Confederates had artillery on Lookout Mountain. They controlled every road into the city except a rough one through the mountains. They had blocked the Tennessee River above and below the city. And they had cut the railroad. The Confederate general said he would let hunger force the Union Army to surrender.

南军在观景山布置大炮，控制入城一切要道，仅留一条山间险径。南军将领扬言，让饥饿迫使联军投降。

Grant arrived in Chattanooga late in October. The city was full of hungry Union soldiers. They had been without supplies for almost a month.

格兰特到达查特努加市是在12月下旬。满城军士皆饥色，断粮无炊近月旬。

Grant wasted no time. He quickly sent troops to fight the Confederate force blocking the Tennessee River. He sent others to fight the Confederates blocking the road to the nearest Union supply center. Within one week, supply wagons were rolling into Chattanooga. Within a few weeks, the defeated Union army was ready to fight again.

格兰特马不停蹄，迅速出兵，阻南军于田纳西州河畔。另派兵阻敌，保护最近处的北军供应中心。一周之后，粮草源源不断运至查特努佳。数周，北军败迹（全无），重振旗鼓，准备再战。

General Grant sent his men against the middle and ends of the Confederate line at the same time.

格兰特将军（指挥若定），派兵对南军首尾夹击。

There were few Confederate soldiers at Lookout Mountain. That end of the line fell easily. The center of the line was along a low hill called Missionary Ridge. It held for a while. Then Union soldiers -- acting without orders -- forced their way to the top of the hill. The Confederate line broke. Southern soldiers threw down their guns and ran for their lives.

观景山上南军廖廖无几，战线末端轻易击破。中间战线在传教士岭的矮山上沿线摆开，僵持数时，联军奋起，奔至山顶，盟军战线击破，南军缴枪溃逃。

The Confederate army withdrew south into the state of Georgia. Tennessee was completely in Union hands. The way was now open for the armies of the North to march into the heart of the Confederacy.

盟军将南军撤至佐治亚洲，田纳西州彻底落入联军之手。（胜利之）路现已敞开，北军顺利进入盟军心脏。

It was clear that the South could not win the war. Too many Confederate soldiers had fallen in battle. None were left to take their place. Supplies were very low. There was not enough food to eat, no shoes to wear, and little left to fight with.

南方无力赢战，败局已定。盟军阵地陷落，无一胜地；士兵供给不足，食不裹腹，鞋不履足，无力作战。

No one held any hope of getting supplies from outside the Confederacy. The South was circled by Union troops and warships. All seemed lost.

盟军救援无望，南军被联军军舰包围，似回天之力。

Yet Confederate soldiers refused to stop fighting. They would not surrender. The war would not end until the Confederate armies were defeated by military force.

而盟军拒绝罢战，不愿投降，若联军不将盟军击败，战争便不会结束。

There was no question that the North had the military strength. Supplies were no problem. Factories were producing more than ever before. Manpower was no problem. Men continued to join the Union army. Fewer than before, but still enough to make it a powerful force.

毫无疑问，北军有相当的军事实力。工厂生产物资，补给雄厚；人力充足，军源不断，数量虽今非昔比，但足以强军备战。

The problem with the Union army was its generals. Some were too careful. Some were unwilling to fight. Some did not know how to fight.

孰任将领却成为联军之忧：任选之才或谨慎有余，或无心作战，或不通军事。

The only general who seemed able to win victories was Ulysses Grant. That is why President Abraham Lincoln named Grant commander of all Union armies. Lincoln depended on him to end the Civil War.

唯一获胜人选似乎只有尤利西斯·格兰特。林肯总统指派格兰特统帅全军，原因即在于此。总统倚重此人结束内战。

Grant went east in March eighteen sixty-four, five months after the battle at Chattanooga. He decided to make his headquarters in the field with the Army of the Potomac. He said he would not command from an office in Washington. But he went to the city to explain his plans to President Lincoln.

格兰特于1864年3月挥师西进，此时在查特努加开战已有五月之久。将军运帱帷幄，帐营设在疆场，与波多马克军团同仇敌忾，声称，发布军令不在首府华盛顿，但将去白宫向总统汇报作战计划。

Grant noted 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 hit the Confederates with so much strength in so many places that the rebels could not stop them. Grant said all the armies would attack at the same time.

格兰特注意到，以往联军军力分散，四处独立作战，如驯马无方，不能同时一处用力，（因而士气疲惫，延误战机）。若格兰特任职，必使士兵聚其旌下，众心协力，共击盟军，使其无处可逃，亦无力还击。格兰特又言，他将带领全军同时出击。

Grant spent the month of April preparing for the big campaign. The main target, once again, was the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia.

四月整整一月，格兰特莫不劳心费神，全力备战。主要目标再次集中于盟军老巢、弗吉尼亚首府里士满。

The Army of the Potomac had one hundred twenty thousand men. It would move against Richmond from the north. General Ben Butler had fifty thousand men. He would move against Richmond from the east. General Franz Sigel would bring thousands more through the Shenandoah Valley to the northwest. These forces were three times the size of Robert E. Lee's army near Richmond. In the west, William Sherman had three armies with more than one hundred thousand men. His opponent, Joe Johnston, had just sixty thousand.

波多马克军团士兵12万人不日将挥师北上，进军里士满。本·巴特勒将军旌下5万士卒东迎北军，共战里士满。弗兰兹·西格尔将军率数千之众，穿越雪南多山谷向西北挺进，军力三倍于里士满附近罗伯特·E·李将军之兵。而西线威廉·谢尔曼拥有三军，兵力达10万；其对手乔·约翰斯顿将军旌下仅6万余众。

General Grant kept details of the campaign as secret as possible. Reporters asked President Lincoln when Grant would move. The president answered, "Ask General Grant." "General Grant will not tell us," said the reporters. Said Lincoln, "He will not tell me, either." The final Union campaign of the Civil War began on May third, eighteen sixty-four.

上述战争机密格兰特将军绝无泄露，严格保密，记者追问林肯总统格兰特将军何时移师作战，总统回答：“去问格兰特将军。”“格兰特将军不会告诉我们，”记者说。总统说道：“那他也不会告诉我呀。”内战中联军的决战于1864年5月3日开始。

After two days of marching, the Army of the Potomac reached the wilderness. It was a thickly wooded area west of Fredericksburg, Virginia. That was where the Union army had lost a battle to the Confederates one year before. That was where the two armies would fight again.

行军两日，波多马可军团到达西部。此处为弗吉尼亚西部地区的弗雷德里克斯堡，丛林密布，（地形复杂，）联军一年前此处与盟军交战时失利，今日，两军将再次于此地会战。

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.

此次战役很快变成盲目交战。密林烟深，两军遥不能见，只可近距离交锋。枪林弹雨，森林失火，（烈焰冲天，）伤兵无处可逃，惨叫声弥漫浓烟之中，（令人不忍耳闻。）

After two days, General Grant decided that the wilderness was not the place to fight Robert E. Lee. He wanted to get around the end of Lee's army. He wanted to fight in the open, where he could use his artillery. So he began to march his men toward a place called Spotsylvania Court House.

两日之后，格兰特将军认为，丛林并非对决罗伯特·E·李将之地，决定包抄李军后围。将军欲在开阔之地作战，以示火炮威力，于是移军斯波特斯法尼亚法院。

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

李将军挥师同样快速，几乎就在联军到达斯波特斯法尼亚之时，盟军亦已潜伏于土石墙后。

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.

两军再次交战数日，有时，双方距离太近，甚至来不及装弹开火，便用枪肉搏。

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

盟军战线百战不挠，李将军再次成功地阻止了联军（的进攻）。

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. There they waited.

格兰特不能授受败北事实，声称即使战事延至夏末，他亦血战到底。他再次督军前进，包围李将军阵地，而李将军则迅速移师冷港，距里士满数里之处等待（联军）。

As he had done in the wilderness and at Spotsylvania, Grant ordered his men to attack hard. It was a slaughter. In less than an hour, seven thousand 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.

继密林之战与斯波特斯法尼亚之战，格兰特再次下令发起猛攻，势如杀戮。不到一小时，7千联军伤亡。格兰特将军最终不得不停止进攻。联军退战，身后数百士兵受伤。

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 take care of the wounded and bury the dead. It was too late for most of the wounded. They had died.

四天之后，战场伤兵呼天呛地，等待救援，渴盼水喝，救援人员被杀。最终，双方统帅达成停火协议，照顾伤员，埋葬死者。多数伤兵因援救过迟而死亡。

The battle at Cold Harbor ended one month of fighting for the Army of the Potomac. The campaign had brought it almost to the edge of Richmond, the Confederate capital. But Grant had paid a terrible price: more than fifty thousand dead and wounded. Confederate losses were much lighter: about twenty thousand.

波特马克军团冷港之战一月之后方告结束。此次战役打近盟军老巢里士满，但格兰特将军付出沉重代价，伤亡5万余人。而盟军损失相对较轻：只伤亡2万。

General Grant was beginning to learn an important lesson of the war. The methods of defense had improved much more than the methods of attack.

格兰特将军开始反思战争惨痛教训：攻不如守，战术使然。

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