116

FOLLOWING T

sir. He was so bad dat we call him Hel.. dat de Lord will send him to de bad place go dere sure, sir."

1 Carter, sir. 'Cause we tink one ob dese days, sir. He

The mansion is a quaint old structure, built, by elms, and commanding a wide panorama of of the Appomattox, and the distant Richmond h The house was standing in the time of the marked on the map of Cornwallis.

of red bricks, surrounded the James, of the valley

ills.

A

Revolution, and was

streamlet, which rough a wooded

The hill is so to plant two siege guns. extending the north,

West of Malvern are the Strawberry Plains. rises in the vicinity of Glendale, courses to the James th ravine between the Strawberry grounds and Malvern. sharp and steep and high that General Barnard was able tiers of guns upon the slope, and crown it with heavy The trees in the ravine were felled, and rifle-pits thrown up along the western side and across the open field towards where the slope of the hill shades into the level plain. Eastward, the trees were felled and their branches loppethe wide pioneers. It was a strong position, and these preparations impregnable. Lee must assail it from the north-west, plain, exposed to the fire of sixty cannon.

over

ed by the

made it

Plains.

Erds the

Porter's corps occupied the ravine between Malvern and the Couch's, Kearney's, and Hooker's divisions held the front towa north. Sumner's and Franklin's corps held the left; the Penn Reserves and the remainder of Keyes's corps, the centre. T was semicircular; and so well concentrated were the troops, t enforcements, if needed, might be had with little delay.

sylvania

The line

hat re

In the James River, two miles distant, lay a fleet of five gur carrying heavy guns, -near enough to throw shells upon the S berry Plains.

boats,

Straw

and

reet, . H.

The Rebels advanced cautiously. Jackson, Ewell, Whiting, D. H. Hill moved down the Quaker road, while Magruder, Longs Huger, and Holmes came down the Richmond road. Jackson, I, in bugh Hill, and Ewell appeared in front of Couch; Huger and Magrude front of Morell's division of Porter's corps; while Holmes filed thr

the woods towards the James, along the western edge of Strawberry Plains.

Although the distance from Glendale is but two and a half miles, it was past ten o'clock before the head of Magruder's columns appeared in sight. A. P. Hill's division, which had been so terribly shattered at Glendale, was left behind.

Magruder shelled the woods and advanced cautiously. There was a pattering skirmish fire through the forenoon, with an artillery duel at long range.

Noon passed, and there was no apparent disposition on the part of the Rebels to make an attack. They dreaded the terrible fire from the numerous guns gleaming in the sun upon the hillside.

General Magruder brought all of the cannon into position which could be advantageously posted, and at two o'clock opened a rapid fire, which was replied to by the batteries on the hill. He threw forward his skirmishers at an earlier hour.

Jackson moved forward a division upon Couch an hour later, but it was hurled back in confusion by the fire of the batteries, and the deadly volley delivered from the rifle-pits.

Holmes, all the while, had been edging towards the river, to gain the rear of McClellan; but the enormous shells from the gunboats, which tore down the forests, paralyzed his soldiers.

There was a consultation among the Rebel commanders. Lee had intrusted the command in his centre to Magruder. His brigadiergenerals did not want to advance over the plain.

"I am unwilling to slaughter my brigade," said General Cobb, "but, if you command me, I shall make the charge if my last man falls."

"I intend to make the charge, no matter what it costs," said Magruder.

The commanders went to their brigades, murmuring that Magruder was drunk, that it would be madness to make the attack."

Magruder formed his line in the woods. Armistead's brigade moved upon the Union picket line, and drove it back. "Advance

1 Pollard, Southern History.

rapidly, press forward your whole line, and follow up Armistead's successes. They are reported to be getting off," was Lee's message to Magruder.

It was past six o'clock before Mahone, Ransom, Wright, Jones, and Cobb were ready. At the word of command, fifteen thousand men move from the shelter of the woods, and appear upon the open plain, moving in solid phalanx, close, compact, shoulder to shoulder, to capture, by a desperate charge, the batteries upon the hillside. It is madness! Success has made them reckless.

With shoutings and howlings they break into a run. Instantly the hill is all aflame, from base to summit. Shells, shrapnel, and canister are poured upon them. There is the bellowing of a hundred cannon, mingled with the multitudinous rattling of thousands of small arms.

The Rebel lines melt away, whole squadrons tumbling headlong. In vain the effort, the men waver, turn, and disappear within the woods. Magruder is furious at the failure. Again the attempt, - again the same result.

The sun is going down behind the hills when he makes his last effort. Meagher and Sickles go up from the right, and strengthen Porter's centre. There is a shifting of batteries, a movement to new positions, a re-arranging of regiments. The artillery on both sides, and the gunboats, keep up a constant fire.

The Rebels advance, but they are not able to reach the base of the hill. "From sixteen batterie ' says the chaplain of the Fourth Texas, "and from their gunboats they beclouded the day and lit the night with a lurid glare. Add to this the light and noise of our own artillery, which had been brought forward, and like an opposing volcano with a hundred craters it gleamed, and flashed streams and sheets of fire, while long lines of human forms cast their shadows upon the darkness in the background, and each joined with his firelock in hand to contribute to the terrors of the awful scene."I

Officers and men, in this contest, go down in one indiscriminate slaughter. They are whirled into the air, torn, mangled, blown into

2
1 Campaign from Texas to Maryland.

fragments. They struggle against the merciless storm, break, and disappear in the darkness, panting, exhausted, foiled, dispirited, demoralized, refusing to be murdered, and uttering execrations upon the drunken Magruder.'

Although the army was upon James River, and in communication with the gunboats, and although the Rebels had been repulsed mainly by the artillery, orders were issued by General McClellan to retreat to Harrison's Landing. At midnight the troops were on the march, stealing noiselessly away, abandoning the wounded.

"Although," says General McClellan, "the result of the battle of Malvern was a complete victory, it was necessary to fall back still farther, in order to reach a point where our supplies could be brought to us with certainty."

There were some officers who were much amazed at this order. They felt that having reached the river, and defeated the enemy with terrible slaughter, there should be no more falling back.

"It is one of the strangest things in this week of disaster," says Chaplain Marks, "that General McClellan ordered a retreat to Harrison's Landing, six miles down James River, after we had gained so decided a victory. When the order was received by the impatient and eager army, consternation and amazement overwhelmed our patriotic and ardent hosts. Some refused to obey the command. General Martindale shed tears of shame. The brave and chivalrous Kearney said in the presence of many officers, 'I, Philip Kearney, an old soldier, enter my solemn protest against this order for retreat; we ought, instead of retreating, to follow up the enemy and take Richmond. And, in full view of all the responsibility of such a declaration, I say to you all, such an order can only be prompted by cowardice or treason.""3 Report, p. 140. › Peninsular Campaign, p. 294.

'Battle-Fields of the South.

TH

CHAPTER IX.

AFFAIRS IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON.

HE prospects of the Rebels, which were so gloomy in April, were bright once more. They had driven the Army of the Potomac away from Richmond. It was August. A month had passed, and General McClellan had shown no disposition to advance again upon Richmond. A consultation was held in that city. President Davis said that the time had come to strike a great blow. General Pope was in front of Washington with forty thousand men. It was determined to crush him, invade Maryland, and capture Baltimore and Washington. The Southern newspapers hinted that Tennessee, Kentucky, and the whole of Virginia were to be recovered, that Maryland was to be liberated from oppression, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and Cincinnati assailed.

General Lee's army numbered not far from one hundred thousand, having been re-enforced by troops from the South. Those troops who had fought Burnside in North Carolina were hurried up; others were sent from South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. Conscription was enforced vigorously. General Lee proposed to leave a force in Richmond large enough to hold it against McClellan, while he sent the main body of the army to fall like a thunderbolt on General Pope.

These preparations were known in Washington, and on the 3d of August General Halleck, who had been placed in command of all the troops in the field, telegraphed to General McClellan to send his army to Aquia Creek as soon as possible. General Burnside's troops were withdrawn from Fortress Monroe, and united to Pope's army.