Grant put in charge of all US armies
President Lincoln assigns command of all US armies to Grant. Lincoln is still the Commander-in-Chief but Grant will send out the orders. The major armies on both sides are still in winter quarters, but the 1864 campaigning season starts soon and General Grant has plans for it. General Nathaniel Banks is to advance on Mobile, Alabama, after finishing up his ongoing expedition to Shreveport, Louisiana. General William Sherman is to attack Atlanta; opposing Sherman will be General Joseph Johnston and the Army of Tennessee. There is also to be a combined campaign, with columns moving into the Shenandoah Valley and a strong army under General Benjamin Butler moving up along the James River to threaten Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, from the rear. Grant himself plans to travel to Richmond overland with the Army of the Potomac, though that army will stay under the command of General George Meade; opposing Grant will be General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia.