CHAPTER V.

 

OPERATIONS OF THE ARMY EAST AND WEST.

 

142

 

The effect of the battle of Dranesville--Blockade of the Potomac­--Resignation of General Scott--McClellan appointed General-in-Chief of the National army--Situation on the Potomac--Other Departments­Capture of Hatteras Inlet-Battle of Carnifex Ferry--Operations in Missouri--Change of Commanders in the West --Formidable prepara­tions by Army and Navy--Capture of Port Royal--Burnside's expedi­tion--Battle of Logan's Cross Roads--Capture of Fort henry and Fort Donelson--Battle of Pea Ridge--The Merrimac--Naval engagements in Hampton Roads--The Monitor-Repose of the Army of the Potomac--Spirit of the people--Mistaken policy--Army corps--President Lincoln's War Orders--The Army of the Potomac ordered to advance--Choice of route to Richmond--Evacuation of Manassas by the rebels--Advance of the, Army of the Potomac--Embarkation for the Peninsula--Advance on Yorktown--Siege and Evacuation of Yorktown--Battle of Williams­burg--Advance to Chickahominy--Battle of Fair Oaks--Detachment of McDowell's Corps--March of the Reserves to Hunter's Mills--"Smoky Hollow "--March to Alexandria--hard march and stormy night--Pre­parations for a new Campaign--The First Corps moves to Manassas­--Scenes on the Bull Run battle-field--Paymaster and sutler in camp-­-Tricks of trade--Advance to Catlett's Station--Capture of Fredericks­burg- -Colonel Taggart's treatment of guerrillas--McDowell desires to advance from Fredericksburg--Promotion of Colonel Bayard and Lieut­enant--Colonel Owen Jones--The First Corps ordered to march on Richmond--President Lincoln at Fredericksburg--McDowell's advance within eight miles of McClellan's army--The recall--Jackson's raid--­McDowell's troops sent to the Shenandoah--Bayards Cavalry and the Bucktail battalion pursuing Jackson—Harrisonburgh--Gallant conduct of Bucktails--Capture of Lieutenant-Colonel Kane and Captain Taylor --Battle of Cross Keys--Escape of Jackson.

 

THE battle of Dranesville with its victory gave to the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps an honor and a name, which extended throughout the country, and were reported in every household. For many weeks, during the dreary

 

143

 

winter that followed, the camps at Langley were visited by distinguished citizens and public officers at Washington; and great numbers of people from Pennsylvania made the journey to Camp Pierpont, especially to see and congratulate the soldiers, who, by their gallant conduct, had honored the nation and afforded so much pleasure to every loyal citizen in the country.

When the cold weather set in, the men constructed cabins of logs and earth, and covered them with the army tents, to shelter themselves from the winter storms. No orders had been issued by the general-in-chief for the army to go into winter quarters, but most of the regiments had voluntarily settled themselves in comfortable camps, satisfied that the Army of the Potomac would remain in front of Washington till spring. The enemy employed his energies during the

winter in the construction of fortifications and batteries on the Potomac river, below Washington; on commanding

heights, he erected batteries for the purpose of obstructing communication with the Capital, and several times during

the winter the river was effectually blockaded.

On the 1st of November, 1861, President Lincoln ac­cepted the resignation of the veteran hero, Brevet Lieuten­ant-General Winfield Scott, who, on account of his extreme old age, and feeling himself to be physically unable to con­duct the campaign against the conspirators, resigned his com­mission as commander-in-chief of the United States army. On the same day, Major-General George B. McClellan was appointed to the command of the army, and immediately addressed himself to the labor of organizing the forces on the Potomac. In the many days, weeks and months of in­action that ensued, a magnificent army was formed, which afterwards became the engine of tremendous power, that in its onward march crushed the rebellious hosts in the East. The rebel leaders were not less active in their preparations for the terrible trials of strength which they knew must sooner or later be made in Virginia. During the whole of the autumn and winter, the hostile armies on the Potomac,

 

144

 

numbering, in the aggregate, not less than four hundred thousand men, stood, facing each other with threatening looks, but neither venturing to strike a blow. The Potomac was blockaded below Washington, the Baltimore and Ohio railroad was destroyed west of Harper's Ferry, and opposite the centre of the Union army, the rebel flag floated most of the time within sight of the Capitol in Washington. After the battle of Dranesville, the skirmishers along the line assumed a petty character productive of no advantages to either party. For seven months the army remained sta­tionary on the plea, that it needed organization, drill and better weapons; that the mud in the roads was so deep that it was impossible to make a sucessful advance, and that military strategy required that the Army of the Potomac should remain in repose, until movements, essential to the success of the campaign, should be executed in the South and West.

In other departments of the army and in the navy, there was more visible activity, and the attention of the people was for a time diverted from the army in front of Wash­ington.

On the 29th of August, the military and naval expedi­tion under General Butler and Commodore Stringham, after a bombardment of two days, captured the Confederate works commanding Hatteras Inlet, the entrance to Pamlico Sound, in North Carolina. The enemy's works were Fort Clark and Fort Hatteras. At their capture, thirty-four pieces of can­non, one thousand stand of arms and a. quantity of provisions fell into the possession of the National forces. Three Con­federate vessels with valuable cargoes of coffee, provisions, cotton and ammunition, also became the prizes of the victors. After having endured a severe shelling from the fleet at a range of two and a half miles for two days, Colonel Martin, Major Andrews and Commodore Barron, of the Confederate service, with all their forces, numbering six hundred and thirty men, surrendered unconditionally, and were made prisoners of war. is this engagement the United States

 

145

 

forces suffered no loss. The Confederates lost four killed and eighty wounded.

The battle of Carnifex Ferry, which closed the campaign in West Virginia, was fought on the 10th of September. General Rosecrans overtook the rebel General Floyd with his army strongly intrenched in a position near the ferry on Gauley river. The rebel force was five thousand strong and had sixteen field pieces in position; the intrenchments were inaccessible on either flank and on the rear; the front was masked with dense forest and thicket. At three o'clock in the afternoon, General Rosecrans attacked the enemy's works with a brigade of Ohio troops; the battle raged with great fury until darkness put au end to the contest; the attacking party slept on their arms the whole night within a short distance of the enemy. During the night General Floyd evacuated the position, and stole away with his force across the river and destroyed the bridge. He abandoned all his trains and camp equipage, his private baggage and the baggage of his officers, his ammunition and cattle, and a number of Union prisoners captured by the Confederates at Cross Lane. The National forces lost fifteen killed and seventy-five wounded.

In Missouri a petty warfare was carried on that extended over the whole State. General Fremont, who had been as­signed to the command in the West, with an energy un­equalled in other departments, was organizing a powerful army, with which be expected to drive the enemy from the States west of the Mississippi. He at once attacked the the enemy in his most vulnerable point by declaring in a proclamation, that " The property, real and personal, of all persons in the State of Missouri, who shall take up arms against the United States, and who shall be directly proven to have taken active part with the enemies in the field, is declared to be confiscated to the public use; and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared freemen." In issuing this proclamation, General Fremont was just ton months ill advance of the nation's representatives at Washington.

 

146

 

He realized that the rebels were in earnest, and that all attempts at pacification by timidity and concessions to traitors were unavailing, and would but add fuel to the flame. Ire therefore at once seized the rod of justice and determined to severely chastise the men, who labored to overthrow the Goverment. The proclamation of freedom, to the slaves, however, came too soon for the authorities at Washington; accordingly on the 11th of September, twelve days after its promulgation at St. Lour, the proclamation was modified by President Lincoln, so as to apply only to saves employed by the rebels in military service.

The battle of Wilson’s Creek was fought on the 10th of August. General Lyon, the officer in command, was killed early in the engagement. The number of killed, wounded and missing was one thousand two hundred and thirty-five. The rebel General McCulloch reported the Confederate loss to be four hundred and twenty-one killed, and one thousand three hundred wounded. The Union troops withdrew to Rolla, thus abandoning southwestern Missouri to the enemy.

On the 20th of September, Colonel Mulligan, after a brave resistance during five days, surrendered Lexington to General Price's army of Confederates. Marauding parties now marching through the western portion of the State, laid waste the country, until General Fremont, at the head of his army, marched to Springfield and drove the Confederates, under Price and McCulloch, into Arkansas. On the 2d of November, Fremont was relieved of the command of the department. General Halleck was sent to St. Louis to assume command, and active operations were transferred to the east side of the Mississippi. On the 7th of November, a battle was fought at Belmont, in Missouri, in which the National forces were commanded by General Grant. The Confederates, under General Cheatham, were driven from their works, but after retreating a short distance, were largely reinforced, and compelled Grant to fall back and take refuge with his array on the transports, and, defended by gunboats, to return to Cairo. To these disasters in the West were added

 

147

 

those on the Potomac during the autumn of 1861, until General McCall, with a brigade of the Pennsylvania Re­serves, changed the fortunes of war, and honored the National arms with victory at Dranesville.

Then followed a season of preparation unparalleled in the history of nations. Armies were created to engage in campaigns extending along a front of two thousand miles; a navy was improvised to blockade a coast three thousand miles in extent; to defend the vast merchant marine of the United States, and to organize powerful fleets for the reduc- tion of strong harbor fortifications in the seceded States. An expedition, sent out in command of Commodore Dupont, had successfully attacked Port Royal, and on the 7th of November captured the rebel forts and established the National flag on the soil of South Carolina. On the 11th of January, 1862, an expedition, comprising over one hun­dred vessels of all classes, carrying an army of fifteen thousand troops, commanded by General Burnside, and accompanied by a fleet of gunboats, commanded by Commodore Goldsborough, sailed from Hampton Roads. The squadron encountered a severe storm, which threatened every vessel with destruction. Nearly a full month had elapsed before the hearts of the people were gladdened with the news of the success of the expedition. On the 7th of February, the gunboats attacked the enemy's works on Roanoke Island, defended by forty-two guns of heavy calibre, supported by a force of three thousand infantry and eight gunboats. From early in the morning until an hour after dark, the fleet of gunboats rained a storm of shot and shell on the island; the bombardment ceased, and during the night General Burnside landed his troops, and at daylight on Saturday morning, moved against the enemy's position on the centre of the island. The battle raged with unabated violence until four o'clock in the afternoon, when, finding the supply of ammunition was nearly exhausted, General Burnside ordered the works to be carried by storm, with the bayonet. Before five o'clock the enemy surren-

 

148

 

dered unconditionally. A victory was won unequalled by any other since the National forces had taken the field. It was a victory that thrilled with joy every loyal heart throughout the land. Six forts, two thousand five hundred prisoners, forty-two heavy guns, three thousand five hundred stand of small arms, and seventy-five tons of ammunition, fell into the hands of the victorious army.

General Burnside followed up his advantage with an assault on Newbern, and after a desperate engagement on the 14th of March, routed the enemy and captured the city. In the meantime the gunboat fleet had driven the rebels from the navigable waters of North Carolina, leaving the city of Wilmington as the only possession of the enemy on tile coast of the State.

While the nation was waiting to hear from the expedition to North Carolina, tidings of victory came from the West. On the 19th of January, General Thomas had met and defeated the rebel army under General - George B. Critten­den, at Logan's Cross-Roads, near Somerset, in Kentucky. General Zollicoffer, a favorite in the Confederate army, was killed, and the army completely routed and scattered in the mountains. On the 6th of February, Commodore Foote, with a fleet of seven gunboats, entered the Tennessee river, and attacked and captured Fort Henry; this engagement demonstrated the power of the Mississippi squadron, which, up to that time, had been regarded as an untried novelty. But still more glorious achievements awaited the progress Ui the army in the West. On the Cumberland river, the enemy had constructed a strong fort and had garrisoned it with an army of eighteen thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine men. On the 12th of February, General Grant appeared before these works, which the enemy had named Fort Donelson, with an army of forty thousand men. He invested the position on the land side, while Commodore Foote's fleet attacked the water batteries. A terrible battle was commenced on the morning of the 13th, which was continued with great vigor for three days. Early in the

 

149

 

morning of the fourth day, General Buckner, commanding the rebel troops, surrendered his army unconditionally to General Grant. General Floyd and General Pillow had stolen away during the night with three thousand men, who thus escaped being captured. By this surrender the national forces took thirteen thousand three hundred prison­ers, three thousand horses, forty-eight field pieces, seventeen heavy guns, twenty thousand stand of small arms, and a large quantity of supplies. The Confederates reported a total loss of fifteen thousand and sixty-seven men in killed, wounded and prisoners. The National loss was two thou­sand three hundred and thirty-one.

The exultations that spread throughout the loyal States on the receipt of the news of the victory at Fort Donelson, had not yet subsided, when, from the far distant hills of northern Arkansas, the report of another victory of the first magnitude filled all loyal hearts with joy. On the 6th of March, the combined rebel armies under Generals Van Dorn, Price and McCulloch, numbering about thirty-five thousand men, attacked the National army, commanded by General Curtis, at Pea, Ridge, in Arkansas. Darkness ended the battle on the first day; both armies slept on their arms; early on the following morning the contest was resumed, and continued with great severity and heavy losses on both sides. General McCulloch fell at the head of his army mortally wounded. Night again closed on the contending armies, and both rested with arms in band, certain of victory on the morrow. On the morning of the 8th, the struggle was resumed and continued with great desperation, but before darkness again veiled the scene of carnage, the Con­federate forces were totally routed, and vigorously pursued by the Union army. General .Curtis reported. a loss iii killed, wounded and missing, of one thousand three hundred. The rebels lost eleven hundred killed, two thousand five hundred wounded, and one thousand six hundred prisoners.

The power of the rebellion in the West was broken, and the only hope of the leaders was to reinforce the armies of

 

150

 

Virginia, who had been allowed to remain in undisturbed quiet, and thus divert the energies of the nation from the West.

Upon the evacuation of the Gosport Navy Yard, near Norfolk, the United States officers scuttled and sunk the steam frigate Merrimac. This was one of the most magnifi­cent ships in the American navy; a forty-gun frigate of four thousand tons burden, built in 1856, and considered the finest specimen of naval architecture then afloat. She -vas two hundred and eighty-one feet long, fifty-two feet broad, and drew twenty-three feet of water. Her engines were eight hundred horse power, and drove a two-bladed propeller, fourteen feet in diameter; her armament consisted of twenty-four nine-inch shell guns, fourteen eight-inch, and two one hundred pound pivot guns.

This magnificent vessel was raised by the rebels, who, being weak as a maritime power, devoted much attention to the construction of iron-clad rams ; she was cut down, leaving only the massive and solid hull, over which they

constructed a sloping shield of railroad iron, firmly plated together, and extending two feet under the water. In appearance, the ship was much like the slanting roof of a house placed on a hull, with the ends of the vessel, fore and aft, projecting a few feet beyond the roof. Nothing appeared above this iron shield but a short smoke-stack and two flag staffs. The fact that a mailed battery of the most formidable character was in preparation, was well known at the North, and her appearance on the waters below Norfolk was daily predicted.

About noon of Saturday, the 9th of March, this monster was seen coming round Craney Island, accompanied by the Jamestown and Yorktown, two otter war vessels, followed by quite a little fleet of armed tugs and small craft. The Merrimac, with her imposing retinue in train, headed for Newport News, where there was a garrison of National troops, guarded by the United States sailing frigates Cum­berland and Congress. The Merrimac steamed majestically

 

151

 

along, as if conscious of superior strength and as she passed the Congress, delivered a single broadside into the doomed ship, then leaving her to be attached by the smaller vessels, made directly for the Cumberland. When the rebel monster was within two hundred feet of the two frigates, they both discharged their tremendous broadsides against her armor; she quivered a moment under the fearful concussion, but every ball glanced from her sloping shield like hailstones from a slated roof. Not deigning to pay, any attention to the fierce, but harmless, assault of the two frigates struggling for life, she rushed straight for her prey. The powerful battery at Newport News opened with all its massive guns at point-blank range, with a power that no mailed structure previously known would have been able to withstand, but these solid shot and shell glanced harmlessly away. On rushed the Merrimac with increasing speed, and not a soul on board to be seen, and with all the power of her tremen­dous weight, plunged headlong into the side of the helpless frigate. The iron prow struck the Cumberland amidship, crushing in her side with a horrible gash. Then reversing her engine, and careless of the shower of cannon-balls rattling against her impervious mail, she retraced her path a few rods for another butt. As she drew back she turned her broadside to tho disabled frigate and hurled into her bosom a terrible volley of shot and shell, that tore through the crowded vessel, hurling her batteries about her decks and scattering mutilated bodies in every direction. Again, with full headway, crowding on all steam, the Merrimac made another plunge into the Cumberland, and striking her upon the former wound, crushed in the whole side, snapping the massive oaken beams, strong as nature and art could make them, as if they had been but a lattice of dry reeds. But the Cumberland never surrendered; the majestic old frigate sank beneath the waves with colors flying, every man at his post, and every unsubmerged gun hurling defiance at the foe. In forty-five minutes the work was done, and over

 

152

 

one hundred dead and wounded bodies of heroic men went down with the broken frigate.

The Merrimac now turned her attention to the Congress. The rebel gunboats Jamestown and Yorktown were hover­ing about this majestic ship, discharging their shot at long range; the tremendous broadsides of the Congress compelled her unworthy assailants to keep at a respectful distance. The frigate, attempting to escape, unfortunately, grounded, and thus became the more helpless. The Merrimac, fearing the shallowness of the water, did not attempt to crush the Congress with her prow, but deliberately took her position at the distance of about one hundred yards, and discharged broadside after broadside of her one hundred pound shot and shell, raking the ship from stem to stern. At the same time, the whole rebel fleet poured into the crippled frigate a destructive fire of shells and red-hot shot. Under this devouring fire the carnage was awful. Instantly the decks were covered with dismounted guns and fragments of broken batteries, mangled limbs and pools of gory blood. The ship was on fire; her timbers and plank dry as tinder, the fiery billows burst forth with a consuming power wholly irresistible; the wounded and the survivors were being consumed by the spreading flames, when, to save the brave men from a terrible death, the officers, with tears and anguish, hauled down the flag and surrendered the burning wreck. The officers of the Congress were made prisoners; the crew escaped to the shore in small boats. The noble chip burned for hours, illuminating the scene for miles around the harbor, until about midnight, the flames reached the magazine, and, with an explosion that moved the waters and caused the earth to tremble, the fiery fragments of the frigate were thrown into the air and covered the sea. When the flames were quenched beneath the waves, dark­ness, gloomy and terrible, shrouded the dismal scene.

The United States ships Minnesota and St. Lawrence were both in the Roads, aground, lying helpless, waiting to be consumed by the devouring monster. Night was rapidly

 

153

 

approaching, and, as if glutted with a surfeit of victory, the Merrimac returned to her position behind Craney Island, where she prepared to continue her work of destruction the next morning.

As the sun went down that evening and night came on, every heart in the fleet and in the coast defences throbbed with despair. The Merrimac was invulnerable. She could do what she pleased, bidding defiance to the massive guns on both sea and land. After destroying every vessel of the fleet, and reducing every fortress on the coast, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Portland were the glittering prizes within her grasp. Not only, at Hampton Roads, but throughout the North, consternation was pictured in every, loyal face.

At ten o'clock that night, two small steamers were seen coming in from the sea, having . in tow a singular looking

craft, resembling a raft with a small round tower, a few feet high, on its center. Could the watchful sentinel on the walls of Fortress Monroe have known, what it was that he saw approaching the ramparts he guarded-as the Spanish

sailor, exclaiming " Land ! Land!" from the fore-topmast of the Pinta, electrified the lost mariners on Columbus' despairing fleet--so he, calling out to the agitated and sleep­less garrison " Deliverance ! Deliverance! God defends the right !" might have calmed their agitation and filled their hearts with hope. The MONITOR was approaching; unor­dered, unowned by the Government; the experiment of Captain Ericsson, a private citizen, residing in New York. The untried vessel arrived opportunely, but by chance, in Hampton Roads. The situation of the fleet was immediately made known to Lieutenant Worden, commanding the Monitor. The vessel was put in order for a fight, and awaited the dawn of morning, and the approach of the Merrimac. Sunday morning came-the sun rose with unusual brightness. Anxious eyes, from every vessel and along the shore, gazed in the direction of Sewall's Point, where the Merrimac and her consorts were at anchor.

 

154

 

About nine o'clock, the vessels began to move. The mailed monster was coming to crush the ribs of two majestic ships, for a morning repast. Wholly unconscious of the antagonist she had to encounter, she came leisurely down, and opened fire on the Minnesota, which was still aground. Just then the Monitor hove in sight, resembling, as the rebels said, a small raft with a "Yankee cheesebox" upon it. She steamed boldly onward towards her formidible antagonist, and, when at the distance of half a mile, Lieutenant Worden, who stood at the grate in the pilot house, gave the order to fire. The huge iron jaws of the turret moved slowly aside, a momentary creaking of ropes and pulleys -vas heard, then a thundering report, and an immense solid ball, weighing one hundred and seventy pounds, was hurled against the mailed side of the Merrimac. This was the Monitor's challenge, and could not, with safety, be disregarded. The Merrimac paused in utter astonishment, then turned fiercely upon her diminutive foe, expecting to demolish her with a single broadside. Drawing near the little floating turret, at a range of but a few yards, the huge monster poured upon the Monitor the full power of her metal, sure that after such a discharge, nothing of the vessel would remain above the waves. But, as the smoke lifted, the little Monitor, with one hundred and seventy pounds of solid iron and a deafening roar, announced herself unharmed. It was now evident that Greek had met Greek, and iron con­tended against iron. The wooden fleets had become silent, awe-stricken spectators, while tens of thousands along the shore, from Fortress Monroe to Newport News, and in all the rebel batteries, watched in dread suspense the terrible conflict. Never before had ships met carrying metal so massive. In this tremendous duel, hundred pound shot rattled against the mailed and impenetrable sides of the combatants, and glanced off like hail. The Monitor was superior in speed, and for four hours steamed around her mammoth antagonist, with her two powerful guns always pointing at the foe, and at a distance of but a few yards,

 

155

 

planting balls in every possible place, eagerly searching for some vital spot. The contest, at times, was so hot-the muzzles of the hostile guns almost touching each other-- ­that both ships were enveloped in a cloud of smoke that no eye could penetrate. The flashing fire and the thunder­ing roar incessantly bursting forth from the tumultuous maelstrom of flame and smoke, gave evidence to the watch­ing thousands that the mortal contest raged with unabated fury. At length the search of the Monitor's guns was successful; three mortal gashes were visible; the Merrimac was sinking; the mailed monster was whipped, and turned to run away. The Monitor was ordered not to follow, but to remain with the wooden fleet.

No pen can describe the joy that thrilled the hearts of the National troops. Cheer after cheer rose from the fleet and from the land, and rolled like reverberating thunder along the shore and across the waters. The injuries to the Merrimac were vital. She was towed to Norfolk, and finally committed self-destruction, to escape capture. The Monitor

came out of the contest uninjured.

This eventful conflict---one of the most memorable on record---revolutionized naval warfare, and indisputably established the supremacy of the American navy.

During the period of all the noble achievements in the West and along the coast, the Army of the Potomac, which had assumed the most formidable proportions in numbers and in all the material of war, remained in repose. The impatient public were unwilling to expose themselves again to the charge of goading their generals to movements for which they were unprepared. The disaster at Bull Run had been attributed to the public clamor that forced the advance before time for preparation had been allowed. In silent impatience the country waited for the inert masses to

be led beyond their ramparts. But as month after month rolled on, and more than two hundred thousand troops stood unemployed in their trenches, with the flag of the enemy flaunted within full view of their bastions, with Washington

 

156

 

besieged, and its port blockaded, while every southern breeze bore insult and defiance to the patriots in arms, the people could no longer withhold their murmurs. The Western Army organized by Fremont and commanded by Halleck was triumphantly marching southward from victory to victory. The people were ready to contribute any number of men and any amount of money, that might be asked for by the military department at Washington. Volunteers crowded to the camps in such numbers that they could not be accepted. All they asked was, that this miserable rebellion of a few thousand slaveholders, dragging in their train four millions of sla ves and half as many "poor whites," should be speedily crushed. Blow after blow was struck by the rebels with the most envenomed bate; these were answered in feeble resentment. The armies of the nation were held inactive, under the vain delusion that a mere show of power would overawe the conspirators.

Never before did a government so unwillingly come to the conviction, that there was no alternative but regular, old-fashioned, death-dealing, bloody, dreadful, destructive war. For a long time the young men in the army were compelled to use the spade instead of the musket. The authorities were anxious not to exasperate their foes by wounding their pride, or striking them blows they would keenly feel. The Government had no disposition to strike the fetters from the limbs of the bondsmen., and thus lost the sympathy of the friends of freedom throughout the world. Nothing must be done that could in any way ex­asperate the Southern people. It would offend the rebels to employ. slaves in the trenches, and therefore they were not admitted in the lines of the army; and slur soldiers were. forced to dig knee-deep in the mud after exhausting marches and sleepless watchings, while all around them, were lusty negroes, whose masters had ran away from them, and who earnestly begged to be allowed to labor, stipulating no price, and asking only for food and protection from the slave-catcher. Strange as it may seem, impelled by an

 

157

 

insane absurdity, the commanding generals rejected these willing laborers, and the citizen soldiery were needlessly doomed to life-destroying toil.

The Government advanced slowly and reluctantly to­wards the position, that the war must be conducted on war principles. It was impossible for the generals who were in sympathy with slavery, who felt that the rebels were half right, and who wished to conduct the war in a manner that would constantly keep open the way of adjustment, by making such concessions to the South as the Southern leaders might demand-it was impossible that such generals should prosecute campaigns with vigor, and strike blows with all their possible strength. The Government contended forbearingly and timidly against a foe, furious and enven­omed as ever rushed with bloodthirsting hate to fields of carnage. The rebel leaders were terribly in earnest; while opposing them, we have for many weary months the record of a government but half aroused. Never before did a people press forward with such enthusiasm to the banner of freedom; never before was their enthusiasm met with such feeble response from their appointed leaders.

True, after a series of vexatious delays that wearied the patience of an earnest people, the army in the West moved against the works of the enemy. But, on the eastern banks of the upper Potomac, upon the Maryland shore, the white tents of the patriotic troops were spread out for leagues. Lower down, opposite Washington, from the heights of Arlington to Budd's Ferry, these soldiers of freedom were intrenched in as majestic a series of ramparts as armies ever reared. The insolent foe had been slowly pressed back by these marshalled hosts, until they occupied their lair on the plains of Manassas. Without a struggle the rebels relin­quished all the ground they had gained by the battle of Bull Run.

Near the close of the month of February, 1862, after two unsuccessful efforts had been made to move the Army of the Potomac, the troops were again ordered to prepare to ad-

 

158

 

vance from their intrenchments. On the 8th of March the army in front of Washington was divided into four army corps. The First corps was commanded by Major-General McDowell, and contained the divisions of Generals Franklin, 'McCall, and King ; the Second, commanded by Brigadier­-General Sumner, contained the divisions of Generals Rich­ardson, Blenker, and Sedgwick ; the Third, commanded by Brigadier-General Heintzelman, contained the divisions of Generals Fitz John Porter, Hooker, and Hamilton; and the Fourth, commanded by Brigadier-General Keyes, contained the divisions of Generals Couch, Smith, and Casey.

On the 19th of January, 1862, President Lincoln, as com­mander-in-cldef of the army and navy, had issued an order for a general movement of all the armies of the United States. In obedience to this order, the armies in the West, commanded by General Halleck, commenced the movement which resulted in the brilliant victories that so electrified the country, and revived the hopes of the loyal men, that the rebellion would soon be crushed. The Army of the Potomac still remained inactive, and on the 31st of January the President issued the following order

 

"EXECUTIVE MANSION,

“Washington, January 31, 1862.

" Ordered, That all the disposable force of the Army of the Potomac, after providing safely for the defence of Wash­ington, be formed into an expedition for the immediate object of seizing and occupying a point upon the railroad south­westward of what is known as Manassas Junction., all details to lie in the discretion of the commander-in-chief, and the expedition to move before or on the 22d day of February next.

" ABRAHAM LINCOLN ."

 

General McClellan replied to this order, objecting to the plan indicated by the President, as involving " the error of dividing the army by the Occoquon creek, a very difficult obstacle, and by a distance too great to enable the two por-

 

159

 

tions to support each other, should either be attacked by the masses of the enemy, while the other is held in check." He then proceeded to discuss the advantages in favor of a movement byway of the Rappahannock river or Fortress Monroe, preferring the former route. A council of war was held in February, at which twelve generals were present, McDowell, Sumner, Heintzellnan, Keyes, Fitz John Porter, Franklin, W. F. Smith, McCall, Blenker, Andrew Porter, Barnard and Na glee. To these were submitted the two lines of operation proposed by the President and General McClellan. The result of the deliberation was a vote of eight in favor of, and four against the movement by way of Annapolis, and thence down the Chesapeake bay and up the Rappahannock river to Urbana, and across the country to Richmond.

The generals who voted against this movement were McDowell, Sumner, Heintzelman and Barnard. General Keyes voted for it with the qualification, that the movement should not be undertaken until the enemy's batteries on the lower Potomac shall have been captured, and the naviga­tion of the river reopened. General McClellan hoped by this movement to elude the enemy, and arrive in front of Richmond before the forces at Manassas could be concen­trated there for its defence. It had been decided by the council of war, held in February, not to disturb the enemy on the lower Potomac, but to move secretly by the new route up the Rappahannock, and thus turn the position at Manassas.

President Lincoln solicitous for the safety of Washington, and. impatient with the delay in the movement of the Army of the Potomac, on the 8th of March, issued another order, as follows

 

"EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, March 8, 1862

" Ordered, That no change of the base of operations of the Army of the Potomac shall be made, without leaving in and about Washington such a force, as in the opinion of the

 

160

 

general-in-chief, and the commanders of army corps, shall leave said city entirely secure.

“That no more than two army corps (about fifty thousand troops) of said Army of the Potomac, shall be moved on route for a new base of operations, until the navigation of the Potomac; from Washington to the Chesapeake bay, shall be freed from the enemy's batteries and other obstructions, or until the President shall hereafter give express permission.

" That any movement as aforesaid, en route for a new base of operations, which may be ordered by the general­-in-chief, and which may be intended to move on the Chesa­peake bay, shall begin to move upon the bay as early as the 18th of March instant, and the general-in-chief shall b;; responsible that it moves as early as that day.

" Ordered, That the army and navy co-operate in an im­mediate effort to capture the enemy's batteries upon the Potomac, between Washington and the Chesapeake bay.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

“L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General."

 

The President had yielded to the judgment of the council of generals in the choice of route, but would not consent to the withdrawal of the army from the defenses of Washington, while the enemy remained in possession of his works on the lower Potomac. Before any movement was begun, the rebels abandoned their batteries on the banks of the Potomac, and evacuated their position at Centreville and Manassas, and retired beyond the Rappahannock.

When General McClellan learned that the enemy had re­tired from his front, he ordered a general movement of the whole army in the direction of the position lately occupied by the rebels, and early is the morning of the 10th of March, the array broke camp and marched toward Manassas. At noon, Colonel Averill, commanding two regiments of cavalry reached the enemy's lines at Centreville, and passed through his deserted works, finding heaps of military stores and much valuable property still burning. Sumner's corps

 

161

 

was ordered to pursue the enemy and to ascertain, if possible, what were his intentions. General Howard's brigade was pushed forward to the Rappahannock railroad bridge, where he drove the rear guard across the river. The enemy blew tip the bridge to prevent pursuit and continued his march southward. On the 11th, the army returned to the Potomac, concentrating near Alexandria. It was now evident, that Lee, having learned of General McClellan's intention to move against Richmond by way of the Peninsula, had with­drawn from the line in front of Washington, in order to in­tercept and retard McClellan's movement up the Peninsula. The transports had been ordered from Annapolis to Alexan­dria, where the army embarked for Fortress Monroe. The embarkation commenced on the 17th of March. General McClellan moved from Alexandria with his headquarters, on the 1st of April, and arriving at Fortress Monroe, on the 3rd, ordered an advance of his army from that base towards Yorktown.

On the 11th of March, President Lincoln issued an order relieving General McClellan of the command of other mili­tary departments, and assigning him to the command of the Department of the Potomac.

General McClellan was to take the field in person, and conduct the active operations against Richmond. He expected by a rapid movement to drive before him or cap­ture the enemy on the Peninsula, open the James river and press on to the rebel capital before the enemy could be rein­forced from other parts of the Confederacy. An unex­pected obstacle, however, was encountered in the Warwick river, which was supposed by General McClellan, not to lay across his proposed line of march ; and it was not until the advance of his column arrived on the bank of the stream, that he learned of its course, and that, rising near Yorktown, under the enemy's guns, it flowed across the Peninsula and emptied into the James. The line of the Warwick was strongly defended by the enemy's works, and was difficult to pass. Yorktown was also found to be extensively fortified and

 

162

 

defended by a strong force. McClellan, therefore, determined to take the place, by " preparing for an assault by the pre­liminary employment of heavy guns, and some seige oper­ations." The seige was commenced and prosecuted with great vigor until the night of the 3rd of May, when the enemy evacuated his works and withdrew towards Rich­mond. His rear guard was overtaken at Williamsburg, strongly intrenched.

On the morning of the 5th, General Sumner who was in the advance, ordered an assault on the enemy's defenses, in which his own and General Heintzelman's corps engaged and defeated the rebels, driving them towards Richmond. Recent rains had rendered the roads almost impassable, and successful pursuit was impossible. The army advanced slowly over the muddy roads, and on the 16th of May, headquarters and a depot of supplies were established at White House on the Pamunky river; four days later, the ad­vance guard arrived on the north bank of the Chickahominy. General McClellan says in his report to the Secretary of War

" When, on the 20th of May, our advanced light troops reached the banks of the Chickahominy river, at Bottom's bridge, they found that this, as well as the railroad bridge about a mile above, had been destroyed by the enemy.

" The Chickahominy in this vicinity is about forty feet wide, fringed with a dense growth of heavy forest trees, and bordered by low marshy bottom lands, varing from half a mile to a mile in width.

" Our operations embraced that part of the river between Bottom's and Meadow bridges, which covered the principal approaches to Richmond from the east.

"Within these limits the firm ground lying above high-

water mark seldom approaches near the river on either bank, and no locality was found within this section where the high ground came near the stream on both sides. It was subject to frequent; sudden, and great variations in the volume of water, and the rise of a few feet overflowed the bottom lands on both sides.

 

163

 

"At low water it could be forded at almost any point; but during high water it was above a fording stage, and could then be crossed only at the few points where bridges had been constructed. These bridges had all been destroyed by the enemy on our approach, and it was necessary not only to reconstruct these, but to build several others.

" The west bank of the river, opposite New and Mechanics­ville bridges, was bordered by elevated bluffs, which afforded the enemy commanding positions to fortify, establish his batteries, enfilading the approaches upon the two principal roads to Richmond on our right, and to resist the recon­struction of the important bridges. This obliged us to select other less exposed points for our crossings.

" As the enemy was not in great force opposite Bottom's bridge on the arrival of our left at that point, and as it was important to secure a lodgement upon the right bank before he could have tune to concentrate his forces and contest the passage, I forthwith ordered Casey's division to ford the river and occupy the opposite heights. This was promptly done on the 20th, and reconnoissances were at once pushed out in advance.

" These troops were directed to throw up defences in an advantageous position to secure our left flank. General Heintzelman's corps was thrown forward in support, and Bottom's bride immediately rebuilt.

" In the meantime our centre and right were advanced to the river above, and on the 24th we carried the village of Mechanicsville, driving the enemy out with our artillery, and forcing them across the bridge, which they destroyed. General Naglee on the same day dislodged a force of the enemy from the vicinity of the "Seven Pines," on the Bottom's bridge road, and our advance on the left secured a strong position near that place.

"All the information obtained from deserters, negroes, and spies, indicated that the enemy occupied in force all the approaches to Richmond from the east, and that lie intended to dispute every step of our advance beyond the Chicka-

 

164

 

hominy, and the passage of the stream opposite our right. That their army was superior to ours in numbers, did not admit of a doubt. Strong defences had been constructed around Richmond.

“Impressed by these facts with the necessity of strengthen­ing the army for the struggle, I did not fail to urge repeat­edly upon my superiors the importance of reinforcing the army of the Potomac with every disposable man, in order to insure the success of our attack upon the rebel capital."

In a few days after the arrival. of the army on the banks of the Chickahominy, two corps, General Heintzelman's and General Keyes, bad crossed the river and held fortified positions on the south bank. The other corps occupied the north bank and extend up the river to Mechanicsville.

On the 30th of May, the troops on the south side of the Chickahominy were in position as follows : Casey's division on the right of the Williamsburg road, at right angles to it, the centre at Fair Oaks; Couch's division at the Seven Pines; Kearney 's division on the railroad, from near Savage's Station towards the bridge; Hooker's division on the borders of White Oak swamp. Constant skirmishing had been kept up between the pickets; while these lines were being taken up and strengthened, large bodies of Con­federate troops were seen immediately to the front and right of Casey's position.

During the day and night of the 30th, a very violent storm occurred. The rain falling in torrents, rendered work

on the rifle-pits and bridges impracticable, made the roads almost impassable, and threatened the destruction of the bridges over the Chickahominy.

The enemy perceiving the unfavorable position in which

the army was placed, and the possibility of destroying that part of it which was apparently cut off from the main body by the rapidly rising stream, on the 31st of May, threw an overwhelming force upon the position occupied by Casey's division, and fought the battle of Fair Oaks.

The two corps on the south bank of the Chickahominy

 

165

 

would doubtlessly, have been crushed, had not the veteran hero, General Sumner, thrown his corps across the bridges in front, almost as they were being carried away by the rising flood, and marched rapidly to the relief of the left wing. Sumner was a soldier of the old school; he loved the excite­ment of battle, and whenever the artillery was heard pound­ing in the distance, the old hero's countenance beamed with inexpressible joy, and his eyes flashed with fiery zeal; his hair, white with age, streamed in the air as, on his war­horse, he galloped along the fiery lines of battle, inspiring every man in his corps with the spirit of his commander. It was fortunate for the army of the Potomac, and for the country, that at that critical hour, when the left wing, cut off from reinforcements by a stream that in thirty minutes would be impassable, was overwhelmed by the whole power of the enemy, the order to reinforce was sent to a soldier like Sumner. Though the bridges in his front were floating, he ordered his men across, exclaiming, " Forward, men ! Your weight will keep the logs in place." The men crossed rapidly, and, forming on the other side, pushed forward and engaged the enemy. Night closed the conflict, which was renewed on the following day with great desperation, and ended in the complete rout of the enemy.

In this battle, the Confederate general reports a 'Loss of six thousand seven hundred and eighty-three ; the army of the Potomac lost five thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven.

General McClellan, explaining why the enemy was not pursued in his flight into Richmond, after the battle of Fair Oaks, says:

"On the 31st, when the battle of Fair Oaks commenced, we had two of our bridges nearly completed; but the rising

waters flooded the log-way approaches and made them almost impassable, so that it was only by the greatest efforts

that General Sumner crossed his corps and participated in that hard-fought engagement. The bridges became totally

useless after this corps had passed, and others on a more, permanent plan were commenced.

 

166

 

“On my way to headquarters, after the battle of Fair Oaks, I attempted to cross the bridge where General Sumner had taken over his corps on the day previous. At the time General Sumner crossed, this was the only available bridge above Bottom's bridge. I found the approach from the right bank, for 'some four hundred yards, submerged to the depth of several feet, and on reaching the place where the bridge had been, I found a great part of it carried away, so that I could not got my horse over, and was obliged to send him to Bottom's bridge, six miles below, as the only practicable crossing.

"The approaches to New and Mechanicsville bridges were also overflowed, and both of them were enfiladed by the enemy's batteries established on commanding heights on the opposite side. These batteries were supported by strong forces of the enemy, having numerous rifle-pits in their front, which would have made it necessary, even had the approaches been in the best possible condition, to have fought a sanguinary battle, with but little prospect of success, before a passage could have been secured.

“The only available means, therefore, of uniting our forces at Fair Oaks for an advance on Richmond soon after the battle, was to march the troops from Mechanicsville, and other points, on the left banks of the Chickahominy, down to Bottom's bridge, and thence over the Williamsburg road to the position near Fair Oaks, a .distance of about twenty­-three miles. In the condition of the roads at that time this march could not have been made with artillery in less than two clays, by which time the enemy would have been secure within his intrenchments around Richmond. In short, the idea of uniting the two wings of the army in time to make a vigorous pursuit of the enemy, with the prospect of overtaking him before he reached Richmond, only five miles distant from the field of battle, is simply absurd, and was, I presume, never for a moment seriously entertained by any one connected with the army of the Potomac. An advance, involving the separation of the two wings by the

 

167

 

impassable Chickahominy, would have exposed each to defeat in detail. Therefore I Held the position already gained, and completed our crossings as rapidly as possible.

"In the meantime, the troops at Fair Oaks were directed to strengthen their positions by a strong line of intrench­ments, w hick protected there while the bridges were being built, gave security to the trains, liberated a larger fighting force, and offered a safer retreat in the event of disaster."

In making the preliminary arrangements for the move­ment from Alexandria, it was determined that the First corps, General McDowell's, should move as a unit first, and effect a landing either at the Sand-box, some four miles south of  Yorktown, in order to turn all the enemy's defences at Ship Point, Howard's Bridge and Big Bethel, or, should existing circumstances render it preferable, land on the Gloucester side of York river and move on West Point. The transports, however, arrived slowly and few at a time.

The army was therefore embarked by divisions, and the corps kept together as much as possible. A new order of march was arranged, placing McDowell's corps in the rear, as it was to move in mass to its point of disembarkation, and land on either side of York river, as might subsequently be determined. But, after McClellan had left Alexandria for Fortress Monroe, the President was informed by his mili­tary advisers, that his order, requiring a sufficient force for the sure defence of the Capital to be left in the fortifications, had not been complied with, he issued an order detaching the First corps from McClellan's army, and directed Gene­ral McDowell to report to the Secretary of War. By this order of the President, the Pennsylvania Reserves, which formed part of the First corps, were separated for a time from the Army of the Potomac.

In the general advance made on -Manassas, on the 10th of DTarch, McCall's division moved from Camp Pierpont. A cold rain, and a driving March wind made the day very disagreeable ; yet the whole division, in buoyant spirits at the prospect of active service, broke camp about midday,

 

168