plished before dawn, and it was not till a quarter past eight o'clock before New Bridge was built, and late in the afternoon that the trestle and pontoon bridges were practicable for infantry. The rising flood, however, made breaches in the causeway of New Bridge that lessened its availability for artillery crossing. More cheering news now began to be received from the battlefield, and it soon became evident that the advance of the enemy had been certainly checked and that he had suffered very serious losses. But even yet it was not certain that he would not again attack, and it then seemed advantageous to re-establish the former lines, strengthen them, and hold them until more permanent bridges, both of whose débouchés would be within the lines of the army, could be constructed uniting the two wings of the army. That this policy was due in a measure to the apprehension of Sumner that the enemy was on the point of attacking him on the morning of June 2d is exceedingly probable, and a waiting attitude was assumed until the permanent bridges were finished and promised re-enforcements arrived. As the whole matter of the Chickahominy bridges has been much misunderstood, it may be well to present the facts of the case according to the records.

Bottom's Bridge had served for the passage of Keyes's and Heintzelman's corps and was their means of communication with the right bank; the railroad bridge, a short distance above, afforded the means of supply to the two corps on the right bank shortly after they had there established themselves; Sumner's two bridges, ordered by McClellan and constructed by the troops of the Second Corps, had never been consid-· ered a part of the system of bridge connection under the control of the engineers, whose scheme had to do wholly with New Bridge and the two trestle bridges situated near the latter, and until their debouches on the enemy's side of the river were carried by an advance of the left wing of the army the engineers could do no more than complete the necessary arrangements for throwing the bridges at the proper time, an opera

tion that would then have required but a few hours of labor. But in the unexpected and unforeseen state of affairs caused by the extraordinary freshet of the 31st of May it was beyond the power of men to do more than was done by the engineers that night. After the battle of Fair Oaks no immediate movement of an aggressive character was contemplated until the communications across the Chickahominy were greatly improved, and it was only from this moment that the intention of constructing any bridges other than those of New Bridge and its adjacent trestle bridges was seriously entertained. But now that the project of carrying the debouch of New Bridge on the enemy's side was temporarily abandoned, it was determined to construct five other bridges, both of whose debouches would be within the lines of the army. These were the foot " bridge, about three quarters of a mile below New Bridge, available for infantry only; Duane's, next in order, practicable for all arms; then Woodbury's infantry bridge, Woodbury and Alexander's and the Grapevine Bridges, the last two being practicable for all arms and all being near the army headquarters. These were all completed by the 19th of June, and afforded as ample means of uniting the two wings of the army as the topography of the swamps and lowlands of the river would permit. About four miles below Grapevine Bridge the Railroad and Bottom's Bridges gave the most direct means of supply from the depot at White House Landing for that portion of the army on the right bank of the Chickahominy.

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CHAPTER XII.

LEE'S PLANS.-STUART'S RAID.-BATTLE

OF BEAVER DAM CREEK.-GAINES'S MILL.-RETREAT TO THE JAMES.-WHITE OAK BRIDGE.-GLENDALE.

AFTER the battle of Fair Oaks McClellan determined to transfer the bulk of his army to the south side, but for several days the weather was most unpropitious. Frequent rains kept the Chickahominy full to its banks, made the roadways impassable for artillery, and greatly delayed the necessary preparations. He frequently assured the War Department that he would attack the enemy as soon as his bridges were ready and the conditions of the ground and weather were favorable. He repeated his requests for re-enforcements, and even suggested that part of Halleck's army should be sent to him from the West. In response to these urgent requests, McCall's division of McDowell's corps, about ninety-five hundred strong, was sent by water and reached him on the 12th and 13th of June, and he was informed by a message on the 11th that it was the intention of the War Department to send the residue of McDowell's command overland as speedily as possible. But McClellan the next day sent a remonstrance as to the proposed route of McDowell's movement, giving strong reasons against it, saying: "I beg leave to suggest that the destruction of the railroad bridges by flood and fire can not probably be remedied under four weeks; that an attempt to employ wagon transportation must involve great delay and may be found very difficult of accomplishment. An extension of my right wing to meet him may involve serious hazard to my flank and my line of com

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munications, and may not suffice to rescue from any peril in which a strong movement of the enemy may involve him. . . . The junction of his force with the extension of my right flank can not be made without a derangement of my plans, and if my recent experience of moving troops be indicative of the difficulties incident to McDowell's march, the exigencies of my present position will not admit of the delay."*

This certainly furnishes sufficient evidence that McClellan had no intention to modify, without further explicit orders, whatever plans he may have devised for the employment of his army to make them conform to the proposed overland march of McDowell's forces, and it is reasonable to suppose that he reached this conclusion at the time that Porter's expedition destroyed the bridges over the South Anna, about the last of May. The evident purpose in his mind was to gain a position on the south bank of the Chickahominy sufficiently near to Richmond to be able to lay siege to it, and he clearly perceived that in doing this his base of supplies at the White House would be put in jeopardy, unless, in the meanwhile, he should receive re-enforcements sufficient to cover that exposed and weak flank. service But where, except from McDowell, could he hope to reany ceive these re-enforcements in time to be of for immediate operations? In view of his repeated promises that, as soon as the weather was favorable and his bridges ready, he would move, it is difficult to understand the attitude that he afterward assumed in attempting to throw the blame of his failure upon the Administration, and to assert that the separation of the two wings of his army by the Chickahominy was due to his orders to await McDowell's coming.

In conformity with his general purpose to conduct his advance from the south side of the Chickahominy, Franklin's corps was transferred to that side on the 17th and placed on the right of the intrenched line in

* Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, 1863, part i, p. 335.

the vicinity of Golding's farm, and Porter, strengthened by McCall's division, was charged with the control of the operations of the right wing on the north bank. McClellan's headquarters were established at Trent's House on the south bank on the 12th, and under his direct supervision the defensive line covering the four corps of his army on that bank approached completion. But the enemy in his immediate front were also busy strengthening their defensive line to cover the approaches into Richmond, which they screened from all attempts to reconnoiter by a strong picket line that was ever active and sometimes aggressive. All that McClellan at this time deemed possible was to attempt a slight advance on the Williamsburg road to secure advantageous ground on his left, so that Franklin might the more surely make an attack upon Old Tavern about the 26th with some prospect of success. Gaining this position, McClellan would then be near enough to Richmond to begin its siege, and at the same time secure the debouch of New Bridge and thus bring Porter's corps closer to the rest of the army. But in the interim he was not buoyed up with the certainty of success; the tone of his dispatch of the 20th of June to the President reveals rather apprehension of disaster, for he says: There is not the slightest reason to suppose that the enemy intends evacuating Richmond; he is daily increasing his defenses. I find him everywhere in force, and every reconnoissance costs many valuable lives. Yet I am obliged to feel my way foot by foot at whatever cost, so great are the difficulties of the country. By to-morrow night the defensive works covering our position on this side the Chickahominy should be completed. I am forced to this by my inferiority of numbers, so that I may bring the greatest possible numbers into action, and secure the army against the consequences of unforeseen disaster."*

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* McClellan's Own Story, p. 390; and Official War Records, vol. xi, part i, p. 48.