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COMPLETE DEFEAT OF THE REBELS.

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length rendered a further attempt injudicious, and the fight, until ten o'clock, was kept up by the artillery on both sides."*

Thus ended the battle of Malvern Hill. Thus terminated the last assault made by the troops of the Rebel Confederacy at this period, upon the army of the Union in the Peninsula. Thus concluded one of the most extraordinary series of engagements which has ever occurred in the blood-stained annals of ancient or modern warfare. The losses endured on both sides were appalling; and impartial history will hereafter affirm from her high seat, that the Rebels had little of which to boast, in the incidents and results of the battles which were fought near their capital. It is unquestionably true, that the Federal forces would have been withdrawn to James river without these assaults having been made upon them. While, therefore, the Confederates inflicted superfluous wounds and death upon them, they were themselves in turn punished and mulcted to a much more destructive and ruinous extent. The Federal losses in these various engagements were as follows: in the battle of Mechanicsville, the number in killed and wounded was about two hundred; in that of Gaines' Mill, seven thousand five hundred; in that of Peach Orchard, two hundred; at Savage's Station, one thousand two hundred; in White Oak swamp, three thousand five hundred; at Golding's Farm, four hundred; at Malvern Hill, two thousand; making a grand total of fifteen thousand. This estimate does not include the missing, whose exact numbers are unknown. It is probable that the losses of the Rebels were not far from twenty thousand.

During Tuesday night, and on Wednesday, the 2d of July, the concentration and establishment of the Union forces at Harrison's Landing were completed. The enemy were too much broken and exhausted to continue the pursuit or to renew the assault. Their self-imposed task had been finished, with greater infliction of suffering and calamity on themselves than on their opponents. The new position which General McClellan had selected, consisted of a strip of land along the northern bank of the James river, five miles in length, where a number of suitable wharves existed, at which the transports could discharge their cargoes of supplies; and whose external form toward the enemy was admirably adapted to the purpose of defence. It was soon made impregnable against all attacks, by the skilful use of the spade; for such formidable breast

* Richmond Examiner of Friday, July 4th, 1862. The same journal presents the following graphic picture of the ground which the Rebels had occupied during the progress of the engagement:

"The battle-field, surveyed through the cold rain of Wednesday morning, presented scenes too shocking to be dwelt on without anguish. The woods and the field before mentioned were, on the western side, covered with our dead, in all the degrees of violent mutilation, while in the woods on the west of the field lay, in about equal numbers, the blue uniformed bodies of the enemy."

works were quickly thrown up, as to convince the Rebels of the impolicy of any attempt to carry them by assault. On the 4th of July, General McClellan issued an address to his troops, in which he bestowed upon them that praise for heroism and endurance which they had richly merited, and which will continue to be, until the end of time, the just reward of the brave and patriotic men whose undying glory and misfortune it was to have belonged to the Federal army in the Peninsula.

The repose of that army at Harrison's Landing remained undisturbed by the enemy during the period of nearly a month. It was not until the night of the 31st of July that their hostile presence and spirit were again exhibited. The Rebels had crossed the James river in considerable numbers, above the Federal camp; had posted several batteries opposite to the Landing, and in the vicinity of the Union fleet of transports; and then began a vigorous cannonading, both upon the camp and the fleet. The assault continued during an hour and a-half. Their guns threw shell of six and twelve pounds weight, both round and conical. They effected but little damage, inasmuch as they generally fell short of their mark. A few of them exploded within the Federal camp, and some of them reached the shipping. In consequence of the fact that no attack was expected from the foe in that direction, all the Federal guns had been posted in the front; so that a considerable interval elapsed before a sufficient number could be transferred to the proper position to respond to the enemy. In half an hour the latter commenced to reply, and in a short time the Rebels were silenced. They had made a futile assault; for, although they discharged several hundred shells, so inaccurate was their aim that the loss on the Union side was only six killed and nine wounded. During the attack the Rebels frequently changed the position of their batteries, and as the night was extremely dark, it was only by the flashes of the guns that their location could be discovered. The vessels on the James river did not return any shots, as by so doing they would have revealed their own location more distinctly to the enemy.

This brief and unimportant episode was the mere prelude to the last military operation which was destined to take place between the Federal and the Rebel armies in the Peninsula. The hideous carnival of blood and death which had rendered that spot so sadly famous in all coming time, was now about to terminate with the second battle at Malvern Hill. On Monday, the 4th of August, a portion of the Federal army was ordered to make a reconnoissance in the direction of the Rebel lines. It consisted of the divisions commanded by Generals Hooker and Sedgwick, a brigade of cavalry under General Pleasanton, and four batteries. General Hooker was chief in command. Leaving the camp at four o'clock in the afternoon, they marched along the road to Charles City for some distance. They then diverged through several by-roads as far as . Nelson's Farm. At that point they bivouacked for the night. Early on

EVACUATION OF THEIR CAMP BY THE FEDERAL ARMY. 297

the following morning they resumed their march, and in an hour they reached the rear of Malvern Hill, upon which the enemy were posted, They thus occupied a position between the latter and the remainder of their army, as well as their depot of supplies at Richmond. An admirable opportunity was thus afforded to surround and capture a large portion of the Rebel force.

Immediately after coming within view of the latter, the Federal troops were formed in line of battle. The artillery were posted in the front; the cavalry and infantry were ranged on the flanks. The Rebels commenced the battle promptly at six o'clock with their guns. The Federal cannon responded with spirit. The enemy were much inferior in number to the Union troops, comprising only three regiments of infantry, a small portion of cavalry, with four pieces of artillery. They maintained the contest during two hours with great determination; but the vast superiority of the Union troops in numbers rendered a further resistance on their part useless. They then retired in good order toward the James river. The Federal victors did not pursue. Their loss was only six killed and twenty-four wounded. The enemy took with them all their guns, their killed and their wounded. This fight enabled General Hooker to take possession of Malvern Hill, which gave him a position six miles nearer to Richmond than that at Harrison's Landing.

On Tuesday afternoon, General McClellan, accompanied by a number of officers, visited the spot, and greatly commended General Hooker for his achievement. It was perfectly evident, however, that though the small body of Rebel troops stationed there had been overpowered, large reinforcements would be quickly sent from Richmond to recover the lost position. A general engagement would therefore soon occur to decide the permanent possession of the place. Accordingly, General McClellan immediately sent messengers to his camp ordering a large number of his troops to march toward Malvern Hill, to support the column already posted there. If these troops had arrived in time, the issue of the subsequent operations might have been different. But the messengers who conveyed the order pursued the wrong road, were unaccountably delayed on their journey, and thus the reinforcements did not approach until the position had been hopelessly lost. Only a portion of those Federal troops which were sent arrived, and these made their appearance only in time to join in the general retreat. On Wednesday the Rebels marched to Malvern Hill in large masses, and as the Federal forces, by this manœuvre, would have been greatly inferior in numbers, a retrograde movement was precipitately made to Harrison's Landing. Thus ended the capture, the occupation, and the evacuation of the position at Malvern Hill. The Federal loss during the operation was four killed and fifteen wounded. It had now become evident to the Federal Government that the expe dition against Richmond, through the Peninsula, had proved a total and

irremediable failure. It was quite as evident that the longer delay of the army of the Union in that unpropitious clime would be productive of no good, while it would entail a continued and lavish waste of the national treasure and of valuable lives. General McClellan, therefore, received orders to evacuate Harrison's Landing. This order was obeyed on the 16th and 17th of August, 1862. Through the energy and skill of Colonel Ingalls, all the stores of subsistence and ammunition were safely removed on board the fleet of Federal transports which then lay at Harrison's Landing. Nothing of the least value was left behind. The Rebel commanders, intensely gratified to witness the departure of their formidable visitors, did not offer any resistance to the movement. The army crossed the Chickahominy by a pontoon bridge two thousand feet in length, consisting of a hundred boats. The troops then marched forward toward Williamsburg, while the transports and gunboats sailed down James river to Fortress Monroe. The future destination of the army of the Peninsula was then as yet unknown. It was, however, intended to be consolidated with the forces which had been placed under the orders of General Pope. This arrangement was afterward completed; and the fortunes of war were again tried under new auspices, against the desperate, yet by no means contemptible conspirators, who had risen in rebellion against their legitimate government, and had thus far struck, with such marvelous energy, ferocity, and skill, against its sacred bosom. Nor can the patriot and philanthropist fail to experience the most poignant emotions of regret, when reflecting upon the varied incidents and results of the campaign in the Peninsula; when he remembers the brilliant hopes which threw so bright and fair a radiance around the advance of the Union army toward the Rebel capital; when he recalls the many glorious prodigies of heroism and valor which were vainly performed by the soldiers and officers of that army, in the sanguinary battles which they fought; when he computes how many thousands of valiant and devoted men, from different and distant portions of the continent, were left behind by their departing comrades to moulder in their unknown and unhonored graves, the victims of a climate and of labors more deadly than the bullets and cannon of the foe; in a word, when he meditates upon the complete and melancholy discomfiture of one of the greatest and noblest enterprises which the checkered page of history presents.

SPIRIT AND PURPOSE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 299

CHAPTER XXVII.

RETURN OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC FROM THE PENINSULA-SPIRIT AND PURPOSE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT-APPOINTMENT OF GENERAL HALLECK AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF LAND FORCES-OPERATIONS OF GENERAL POPE-MESSAGES OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN IN FAVOR OF EMANCIPATION OF THE SLAVES AND CONFISCATION OF THE PROPERTY OF REBELS-RECONNOISSANCE OF GENERAL KING TO BEAVER DAM-BATTLE OF BAYOU CACHE, IN ARKANSAS-ENGAGEMENT ON THE MISSISSIPPI WITH THE RAM ARKANSAS-BOLDNESS AND DETERMINATION OF THE REBELS-ENGAGEMENT NEAR MEMPHIS, MISSISSIPPI-OPERATIONS OF THE REBEL JOHN MORGAN IN KENTUCKY-CONTEST AT CYNTHIANA-MORGAN ABANDONS KENTUCKY-ADDITIONAL ANTI-SLAVERY MESSAGE OF MR. LINCOLN-EXPEDITIONS SENT FROM NEWBERN TO TRENTON AND POLLOCKSVILLE-THEIR RESULTS-ATTACK MADE ON THE ARKANSAS BY COLONEL ELLET-INCIDENTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT-DEFEAT OF THE QUEEN OF THE WEST-CAUSES OF THE DISASTER-CREATION OF NEW GRADES IN THE FEDERAL NAVY-PRESIDENT LINCOLN ordeRS A DRAFT OF THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN.

THE disastrous termination of the campaign of the Federal army in the Peninsula, under General McClellan, and its withdrawal from the vicinity of Richmond without having accomplished the magnificent purpose of its mission, filled the loyal community in the United States with disappointment and regret. The remains of that once formidable force subsequently returned by way of the Potomac to positions which were then assigned them nearer to the Federal capital. But the reverses which had occurred produced no other effect upon the administration of Mr. Lincoln than to induce it to put forth more strenuous exertions to increase the military strength of the nation, and to resume offensive operations against the Confederates at the earliest possible period with greater energy and efficiency than before. At the suggestion of the Governors of nearly all the loyal States, the President called out an additional levy of three hundred thousand men, and preparations were immediately made to comply with the requisition. General John Pope, who had distinguished himself by his operations at New Madrid and Island Number Ten, was transferred to the command of the consolidated army of Virginia, composed of the three corps of Fremont, Banks, and McDowell, to which were added, during the last days of August, Burnside's, Sumner's, and Fitz John Porter's corps. A short time afterward General Halleck was summoned to Washington, and invited to occupy the position and discharge the functions of General in-Chief of the land forces of the United States. The evident purpose of this appointment was to increase the efficiency of the administration of affairs at the Federal capital, and, in effect, to place a portion of the oper. ations of the War Department under the control of a professional soldier, familiar with the principles of military science.

General Pope took command of the army of Virginia on the 14th of ·

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