A brigade against an army is like a flea to an elephant. But a group of brigades begins to resemble an army. When General Sherman left Vicksburg the first time, the flea caused him some irritation, but did not slow his army. But he did return to Vicksburg to gather more forces. At this time General Grant gave him orders to ware down General Johnston's Army. During the next 100 days, an Army in the middle and Cavalry Brigades on the flanks cause Sherman to spend a lot more time and men at his task than he planned. The loss of thousands of men did not deter Sherman, because he had thousands to spend. General Johnston did not loose as many men, but the loss of material caused his forces to slowly fall apart. The men did not give up. They fought like tigers. Both Cavalry Divisions on the flanks did their work in a most professional manner. Sherman's two major raids were blunted. One was destroyed, and the other which did well was made to think it was about to bedestroyed, thus charging from the battle field without doing the maximun dammage it could have done. Thus was the war of the summer of 1864.