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Union troops at Williamsburg, but, in his own justification, he claims that he had every reason to expect that with five divisions at hand and two others within supporting distance Sumner ought not to have failed to score a victory.

To carry out the orderly movement of the various parts of an army of a hundred thousand men in accordance with a well-digested plan is a problem of no small magnitude, even with a most competent and thoroughly instructed staff. How much greater were the difficulties in the present unexpected emergency can very well be imagined when we recall the condition of the army when the evacuation was made known. Many of the troops had been on fatigue duty in the trenches during the night, and neither rations nor transportation were ready in a single division for an immediate movement, as is shown by the report of every division and corps commander. Owing to this condition of unreadiness for the march Stoneman did not leave Yorktown until ten o'clock, and Hooker did not get well under way until near one o'clock; Smith's leading brigade, preceded by Chambliss's squadron, somewhat more prompt, reached Skiff Creek about 10.30, to find that the Confederate rear guard of cavalry, under Stuart, had blocked his farther advance on this road by burning Lee's Bridge over Skiff Creek. The last of the Confederate infantry from the Yorktown lines had passed within the line held by this rear guard shortly after daybreak, and Stuart's cavalry presented a screen extending from Skiff Creek to the York River, covering the two main roads leading to Williamsburg.

Stoneman moved rapidly, and about noon, at a difficult crossing on the Yorktown road, came in contact with a portion of Stuart's force, under the command of Colonel Wickham, which was, however, quickly driven off by Gibson's battery. Here General Emory, with a regiment and a squadron of cavalry and a battery, was sent over to the Lee's Mill road to intercept the enemy whom General Smith was supposed to be driv

ing on that road, while the remainder of Stoneman's command, under General Cooke, hastened toward Williamsburg. In a narrow wood road on his way to the left Emory was attacked by a small detachment of Stuart's cavalry, under Colonel Goode, which after a spirited contest was driven off, but the delay incident thereto enabled Stuart to make good his escape with his command by the Beach road bordering the James River, the only route then available. Cooke's ad

vanced guard, proceeding rapidly, soon came in view of the line of redoubts in front of Williamsburg, and there he perceived that the enemy on the plateau displayed such superior strength in numbers and position that any attack by his cavalry alone would be futile. Nevertheless, as he expected that the infantry supports would soon arrive, and as he had been empowered by Stoneman to attack at discretion, he threw forward a section of Gibson's battery near the junction of the roads and opened fire, at the same time sending Major Williams with four squadrons of the Sixth Cavalry by a road to the right to attack on that flank. After about an hour's contest, during which there were several spirited cavalry charges, Cooke was obliged to retire from his advanced position after suffering a considerable loss in men and horses, and was also obliged to abandon one gun of Gibson's battery which had become so deeply mired that it could not be extricated.

General Johnston had concentrated his army at Williamsburg at midday on the 4th, but had not intended to delay his retreat to fight a battle, as he knew full well that McClellan would hasten his transports up the York River and endeavor to strike the flank of his column while in retreat and capture or destroy his trains. Finding, however, that his trains were making slow progress, and in order to gain time for their better advancement, he ordered Semmes's brigade of McLaws's division, which was then about entering Williamsburg, to countermarch and occupy Fort Magruder and its adjacent redoubts. This was about one

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o'clock, and two hours later, hearing of Stoneman's approach, he also ordered the return of Kershaw's brigade and Manly's battery of the same division, and it was this force that effectually interposed itself as an obstacle to Cooke's troopers. Had there been a division of Union infantry promptly on the ground to support Stoneman it is quite likely that Fort Magruder might have been seized before the Confederates could have reached it, and the battle of the next day, had there been one, would have had a very different result.

To follow now the movements of the Union infantry divisions, it will be remembered that Smith had reached the arm of Skiff Creek at half past ten o'clock, where he was halted by a peremptory order of Sumner, who had at noon, by General McClellan's direction, been placed in charge of operations connected with the pursuit, although Heintzelman had not been notified of the change. Sumner, coming up about two o'clock, directed Smith to move over to the Yorktown road and proceed by that road to the support of Stoneman's advanced guard. Smith's division filed into this road just before Hooker's reached the point of intersection, and the latter was compelled to halt until Smith's had passed, involving a delay of several hours. Sumner, accompanying Smith's division and apparently not concerning himself with the troops in rear, hastened forward with the design of putting Smith's division into action that afternoon, under the impression, derived from Stoneman, that the enemy had but a small force in his front. But it was half past six o'clock before the organization of Smith's division in battle formation was effected in the woods that screened the Confederate position, and the quick-falling darkness, together with the difficult nature of the ground, prevented his design from being accomplished.

In the meantime, Hooker, impatient and restive under his enforced detention, and finding that the road he was following was filled with troops, sought and obtained permission from General Heintzelman, his corps commander, to cross to the Lee's Mill road, and thus it