munications with White House by ordering supplies up the James River for the purpose of establishing, if necessary, a new base at a convenient point below Drewry's Bluff. The contingency had now arrived. The defeat of Porter by a superior Confederate force on the north side of the Chickahominy had made it impossible for the Union Army to maintain its communications with White House; and McClellan, assembling his corps commanders at his headquarters on the night of Gaines's Mill, very properly issued the necessary orders to begin at once the movement for a change of base to the James. That he would undertake such an operation had not entered the mind of Lee. The Confederate general felt sure that McClellan would either give battle to preserve his communications, or else would cross the Chickahominy by the lower bridges and retreat down the Peninsula. But, during the forenoon of June 28, Lee, observing clouds of dust, which denoted the Federal army to be in motion, and having learned also that the railroad which brought them supplies had been abandoned, came to the conclusion that retreat down the peninsula was the alternative decided upon, and accordingly lay idle that day prepared to strike at the fit moment a telling blow. McClellan was allowed twentyfour hours to organize his retreat unmolested. Lee's misconception probably saved the Federal army from a crushing defeat, and secured the success of this operation. Many of the Union soldiers were busy that day in burning heaps of commissary and quartermaster's stores, while others loaded railway cars with the ammunition and shells of the siege guns, attached a locomotive under full head of steam, and, applying the torch, ran the ignited and exploding train into the river; still others set about the destruction of some of the officers' baggage. Meanwhile Keyes's corps marched across White Oak Swamp, and took a position to protect 5000 loaded wagons, 2500 head of cattle on the hoof, and the reserve artillery. Later in the day Porter followed. Everything progressed smoothly and in good order. It was a painful though necessary feature of the retreat that twenty

five hundred sick and wounded who were in a summer hospital, with five hundred attendants, had been left behind.

By sunrise of Sunday, June 29, the Confederates discovered that the Union army, which they had hoped to capture or destroy, had fled towards the James River. Immediate pursuit was given. Most of the troops had already gone by, but Magruder overtook Sumner's corps and Smith's division of Franklin's corps at Savage's Station, and a severe battle took place, in which the Confederates were defeated and the passage of the White Oak Swamp secured for the rear-guard of the Federal army. June 30 was fought the stubborn battle of Glendale, or Frayser's Farm. Longstreet and A. P. Hill contended with McCall's division and Heintzelman's, and part of Sumner's corps. Neither side prevailed, and the Union troops continued their retreat in good order. It was thought that if Jackson had come up at the time he was expected a portion of McClellan's army would have been destroyed or captured. The swift-moving Jackson had apparently been slow. He had been delayed in crossing the Chickahominy from the necessity of repairing the Grapevine bridge which the Federals had destroyed. He was late at Savage's Station, and on reaching the White Oak Swamp found the bridge and the passage disputed by Franklin. Dabney, his admiring biographer, thinks he would have managed somehow to cross the swamp, had not his genius suffered a "temporary eclipse" from sleeplessness and physical exhaustion. At all events, Jackson made no persistent attempt to force a passage at the bridge crossing or at Brackett's Ford, one mile above, and by his failure to support Longstreet and A. P. Hill, an important feature of Lee's plan miscarried. At the commencement of the battle of Glendale, Lee and Davis were so engrossed in watching the operations of their army that they came under fire, the Confederate President narrowly escaping accident. McClellan had left the field before the fighting began, seeking a defensive position for the next day.

1 Life of Jackson, p. 466.

The morning of July 1 found the whole Union army posted on Malvern Hill, a strong position near the James River. By noon the Confederates appeared. Lee and Jefferson Davis were with their troops. D. H. Hill, now under Jackson's command, learned the great natural strength of Malvern Hill from a clergyman reared in the neighborhood, and going to Willis's Church to meet Lee, who, he writes, "bore grandly his terrible disappointment of the day before and made no allusion to it," imparted to the general his knowledge of the "commanding height" and "ample area" before them, and made bold to say, "If General McClellan is there in force, we had better let him alone." Longstreet laughed and retorted, "Don't get scared now that we have got him whipped." Although Lee understood McClellan well and played upon his weaknesses, he did not realize the extreme timidity of his tactics on the day of Gaines's Mill, and doubtless considered it past belief that he could have left exposed to an attack so overpowering a single corps tardily supported by one division to meet the combined forces of the Confederate army. Porter's spirited defence confirmed Lee in his error. Supposing that he had badly defeated the principal part of the Union army at Gaines's Mill, he now thought that he was pursuing shattered divisions and demoralized troops. Jackson had failed to give the crushing blow at Glendale, and while now the promise of success was not so good, yet a victorious army can do much against one in flight after a defeat. Therefore Lee resolved to attack McClellan, and the order was given that opened the battle of Malvern Hill. D. H. Hill and Magruder did the fighting on the Confederate side, but with inadequate support. Although their troops fought bravely and well, they were mowed down by the fire of the splendid artillery and the efficiently directed infantry of the Union army. On the Union side, the burden of the battle was borne by Couch of Keyes's corps and Morell2 of Porter's.

1 Hill's article, Century War Book, vol. ii. p. 391; Hill's report, O. R., vol. xi. part ii. p. 628.

2 Both commanded divisions.

They showed themselves able leaders, and Porter's generalship was of a high order. The Confederates were repulsed at all points with a loss double that of the Federals. Hill describes the heroic advance of nine brigades of Magruder across an open field "under the fire of field-artillery in front and the fire of the heavy ordnance of the gun-boats in the rear. It was not war," he declares, "it was murder." In his report he speaks of "the blundering management of the battle." Nearly all the observers and writers agree that Lee's generalship at Malvern Hill was clearly defective. The attack is condemned and the execution of it censured.

2

McClellan was not with his fighting troops. Some think that if he had been on the field and seen with his own eyes the victory his devoted soldiers had won for him, he would have held his position on Malvern Hill; an energetic general might even have taken the offensive and gained a success of moment. In the Seven Days' Battles McClellan's loss was 15,849; Lee's 20,135. McClellan with his army retired to

1 Century War Book, vol. ii. p. 394.

2 O. R., vol. xi. part ii. p. 629.

3 "The dear fellows cheer me as of old, as they march to certain death, and I feel prouder of them than ever." - - McClellan to his wife, July 1, Own Story, p. 442.

4 Killed, Union 1734, Confederate 3286; wounded, Union 8062, Confederate 15,909; missing, Union 6053, Confederate 940. - Century War Book, vol. ii. p. 315.

I have despaired at getting at the truth as to the capture of artillery. Lee in his report dated March 6, 1863, says he took 52 pieces. Hill in his undated report says 51. — O. R., vol. xi. part ii. pp. 498, 622. McClellan's statements cannot be reconciled with these nor with each other. McClellan to the President, July 2: "I have lost but one gun ;" to Stanton, July 3: “Our light and heavy guns are saved with the exception of one;" address to his soldiers, July 4: "You have saved all your material, all your trains, and all your guns except a few lost in battle, taking in return guns and colors from the enemy;" to the President, July 4: "We have lost no guns except twenty-five on the field of battle." — O. R., vol. xi. part iii. pp. 287, 291, 299; part i. p. 72. McClellan to his wife, July 2: "I have the whole army here, with all its material and guns."-Own Story, p. 442. Lee says his army took 35,000 stands of small arms, Hill 27,000; both say 10,000 prisoners were captured.

My authorities for this account of the military operations after Gaines's Mill are substantially those cited in note 1 on p. 43. In addition I have

Harrison's Landing. July 8 Lee fell back to the vicinity of Richmond. After seven days of constant march and fight, both armies needed rest. Their thinned ranks must be filled before active operations could be resumed. In one month, indeed, those citizen soldiers had become veterans. The meed of victory attended the training of one army, and while defeat was the lot of the Union troops, they had not lost honor. They made an orderly retreat, and in the rear-guard fighting had more than once beaten their adversary.

The Peninsular campaign was a failure, and the chief cause of its failure may be ascribed to McClellan. I have spoken of the mistakes of Lincoln and Stanton, wherein they contributed to the embarrassment of the Union army in its operations before Richmond, but it is not just to weigh their errors as heavily as we do those of the commanding general. Lincoln was a civilian called by the voice of the people to a place which on the occurrence of the war became one of unprecedented difficulty. That he would gladly have thrown all responsibility of the movement of armies on a man of military training, is shown by his whole treatment of McClellan. But McClellan was not equal to the position of commander-in-chief, and because of his incompetence the President was forced little by little to invade his province and assume unwonted duties with a result that is not surprising. Lincoln's care to avail himself of all sources of enlightenment is shown by his night journey, June 23, on a quick special train to West Point for the purpose of consulting General Scott, who was too infirm to visit Washington.1 The traditions of the country were favorable to the occupancy of the War Department by a civilian, and Stanton brought to this office ability, energy, and honesty.2 The mistakes of

used the reports of Sumner, Franklin, and Keyes; the testimony of Sumner, Keyes, and Hooker, C. W., part i.; articles of Longstreet and Franklin, Century War Book, vol. ii.

1 N. Y. Herald, Times, June 25, 26.

2 See J. C. Ropes's remarkable characterization of Stanton, Story of the Civil War, part i. p. 223.