ized men, without a single field battery, were all you designed to be left for the defence of Washington and Manassas Junction; and part of this, even, was to go to General Hooker's old position.

"General Banks's corps, once designed for Manassas Junction, was diverted and tied up on the line of Winchester and Strasburg, and could not leave it without again exposing the Upper Potomac and the Baltimore Railroad. This presented (or would present, when McDowell and Sumner should be gone a great temptation to the enemy to turn back from the Rappahannock, and sack Washington.

"My explicit order that Washington should, by the judgment of all the commanders of corps, be left entirely secure, had been neglected. It was precisely this that drove me to detain McDowell. I do not forget that I was satisfied with your arrangement to leave Banks at Manassas Junction; but when that arrangement was broken up, and nothing was substituted for it, of course I was not satisfied; I was constrained to substitute something for it myself.

"And now, allow me to ask, do you really think I should permit the line from Richmond, viâ Manassas Junction, to. this city, to be entirely open, except what resistance could be presented by less than twenty thousand unorganized troops? This is a question which the country will not allow me to evade.

"There is a curious mystery about the number of troops now with you. When I telegraphed you on the 6th, saying that you had over one hundred thousand with you, I had just obtained from the Secretary of War a statement, taken, as he said, from your own returns, making one hundred and eight thousand then with you, and en route to you.

"You now say that you will have but eighty-five thousand when all en route shall have reached you. How can the discrepancy of twenty-three thousand be accounted for? As to General Wool's command, I understand it is doing for you precisely what a like number of your own would have to do, if that command were away.

"I suppose the whole force which has gone forward for you is with you by this time; and, if so, I think it is the precise time for you to strike a blow. By delay the enemy will relatively gain upon you; that is, he will gain faster by fortifications and reënforcements, than you can by reenforcements alone.

"And, once more, let me tell you it is indispensable to you that you strike a blow. I am powerless to help this. You will do me the justice to remember, I always insisted that going down the bay in search of a field, instead of fighting at or near Manassas, was only shifting, not sur mounting a difficulty; that we would find the same enemy, and the same or equal intrenchments, at either place. The country will not fail to note is now noting that the present hesitation to move upon an intrenched enemy, is but the story of Manassas repeated.

"I beg to assure you that I have never written you or spoken to you in greater kindness of feeling than now, nor with a fuller purpose to sustain But you you, so far as in my most anxious judgment I consistently can.

must act.

Yours very truly,

A. LINCOLN."

VOL. IL-3

The chain of earthworks which the enemy had thrown up and were hourly strengthening, while reënforcements were being hurried forward to man them, was built in the form of a semicircle, with numerous rifle-pits in front. The ramparts were rapidly supplied with guns of the heaviest calibre, many of them being 32 and 42-pounders. The ground was generally an undulating plain, densely covered with forest. Near Yorktown the land was low and marshy, and in some places so soft as to be quite impassable. Between the line of the National troops, as that line was gradually formed, and the redoubts of the foe, there was a ravine which was occupied by Berdan's sharpshooters, who were thus enabled to obtain a range of about eight hundred yards. The rebels, in the rear of their fortifications, rapidly accumulated a large reserve, so that ere long they had at that point a force of about thirty thousand men.

As the National troops cautiously approached the rebel redoubts, to ascertain the weight of their guns, an artillery skirmish commenced, the first shot being fired at ten o'clock from the rebel works near Yorktown. The shell passed over the heads of General Porter and his staff, and fell without exploding some distance behind them, in the thick woods on their left. Wieden's battery, on our right, was the first to reply, followed by Martin's on our left. Griffin's Third Rhode Island Battery, aided by Allen's Third Massachusetts, was also soon engaged on the right. The fire from the National guns was vigorous and efficient-much more so than that of the rebels. Berdan's sharpshooters rendered very important service.

When the action commenced, under General Porter, these sharpshooters advanced as skirmishers, to clear the woods. Deploying to the right and left, they plunged into the bushes, while a storm of shot and shell was falling around them. At length, coming to an open space, where there was no protection, they threw themselves upon the ground, flat upon their faces, and wormed themselves along under the shelter of such rocks, stumps, and hummocks as could be found, until they attained positions from which they could reach the foe with their unerring rifles. Their fire was so rapid and deadly as greatly to embarrass the rebels at their guns. If a head were seen through the embrasures, or a hand rose above the ramparts, it was sure to be hit. In vain the rebels endeavored to drive off these unseen yet stinging foes, by opening upon them the most desperate fire of their batteries. They maintained their position, and their efficient action, until the close of the day. At one time a mounted rebel officer ventured outside of one of the redoubts. The white bosom of his shirt, dimly visible, presented a target. "California Joe" drew up his telescopic rifle, took deliberate aim, fired, and the man reeled and fell headlong from his horse to the ground.

Through the entire day the shelling of the rebel forts was continued by our batteries. There were also a few unimportant skirmishes when our infantry encountered parties of the infantry of the foe. Still, no decisive results were obtained. One or two rebel guns were captured, and our loss, during the conflict of the day, amounted to but three killed and twenty wounded.

The forces of the rebels were continually increased by detachments from

their army of the Rapidan. Their position was deemed too strong to be carried by direct assault. The next morning, Sunday, April 6, General McClellan arrived from Fortress Monroe, bringing with him large reënforcements. A balloon ascension was made, by which very accurate information was obtained respecting the strength of the rebel force, and the nature of their intrenchments.

The balloon corps became a very important branch of our military service. Professor Lowe, an experienced aëronaut, was its chief. He had two large balloons, with ample arrangements for their speedy inflation. These balloons were sent up from all parts of the camp, and, when there was but little wind and the atmosphere was clear, they proved exceedingly efficient in disclosing the position and movements of the rebels. It was manifestly very annoying to the rebels to see the silken globe, at a safe distance, floating in the air, while, from the car suspended beneath, the Union officers, with powerful glasses, scrutinized all their movements. A strong cord, two thousand feet in length, held the balloon firmly in its position at any desirable height. With a pulley and tackle, below, it was easily drawn down. Generally two or three went up together.

The scene was indescribably beautiful and imposing, as, in the clear atmosphere of a sunny day, these officers looked down from such a dizzy height upon bannered armies below, who were often at the time contending upon the green and luxuriant fields of old Virginia. Within the area of a circle four miles in diameter, the view, even to the naked eye, was nearly perfect. From the reconnoissance thus obtained, it was judged prudent to wait for the arrival of the heavy siege-guns, many of which had not yet been taken from the transports. It was thought that a few days' bombardment, with artillery so ponderous, would weaken the defences of the foe sufficiently to warrant an assault by storm. On this day, however, Shipping Point, on Pequosin Bay, was taken by the Union forces, and thus the transportation of supplies for the army was greatly facilitated.

Ten days passed away in the toil of the siege, when, on Wednesday, the 16th, the first serious attack upon the enemy's works occurred, near Lee's Mills, on our left, under the command of General W. F. Smith. This was the position assigned to the column of the army under General Keyes. In his advance by a route near James River, the rebels had fallen back before him six miles, from Young's Mill to Lee's Mills, on Warwick Creek, where they strongly intrenched themselves. Here they seemed disposed to make a vigorous defence. Lee's Mills are about two miles from the James River, and six from Yorktown. Warwick Creek here makes up from the James River, in some places deep and narrow, with bold banks, the land generally spreading out into swamps. Two forts, with extensive rifle-pits, were constructed by the rebels on the west side of the creek. In front of these forts there was an open space of about twelve hundred yards, and in the rear a dense forest. Thick woods also fringed the forts on each side. On the enemy's right the ravine, through which the waters of the creek sluggishly flow, widened into a marsh, and the stream, dammed up below, so flooded the morass as to render any flank movement in that direction almost impossible.

A little farther down the creek, another fort, with rifle-pits, had been constructed to command the road to Lee's Mills, which passed by these works at a distance of about twelve hundred yards. It was resolved to drive the rebels from this commanding position. Accordingly, at nine o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, April 16th, a portion of the Third Vermont, supported by Mott's battery, advanced, as skirmishers, towards the eastern banks of the creek. The first shell they fired exploded directly over the rebel fort. With a well-manned battery of six guns, the patriots opened upon the rebels, with great rapidity and precision, a deadly fire of shot and shell. With equal vigor the rebels returned the fire. Their first shell exploded in front of one of our guns, killing or wounding every man but one.

For three hours an incessant duel was thus kept up on both sides, the marshy creek alone separating the combatants. Soon one-half of the guns in the rebel forts were silenced by the fire from the National batteries. The rebels then ceased to reply and evacuated the fort. Sharpshooters were sent forward to reconnoitre, but they could not ascertain what had become of the garrison. The National troops, consisting of the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Vermont Regiments, weary of the fatigue of marching and the battle, were now allowed a short respite for dinner and repose. No enemy was any longer visible. We had thus far lost but seven men. After a few shells had been thrown into the adjacent woods, to search out any rebels who might be skulking there, the soldiers slept upon the greensward, and the most impressive silence and stillness followed the harsh clamor of war.

At four o'clock in the afternoon the rebels again appeared in possession of another breast work, upon which they had mounted several guns. In large numbers they were seen swarming through the woods in the vicinity of the fort. Captain Mott pointed to the fortification, and, in a few glowing words, inspired his men with zeal to cross the creek and storm the intrenchments. Mott's battery was now reënforced by Ayres's and Wheeler's, numbering, in all, twenty-two guns. They were brought up to within five hundred yards of the fort, to cover the charge of the Vermonters. The heroic Green Mountain boys rushed forward to the bank of the creek and plunged in. The creek, then flooding a marsh about twelve rods wide, was found unexpectedly deep. The men had but just entered the stream, when they found themselves sinking to their waists in water and mire. At the same moment, from a long line of rifle-pits upon the opposite banks, a tempest of bullets was rained down upon them. Undaunted, these young patriots pressed on, loading and firing as they advanced. Their killed, and many of their wounded, sank in the stream.

But their comrades, instead of turning back with the wounded, seized them by the arm or the collar of the coat, and pushed resolutely on to meet the intrenched foe. As soon as they got foothold on the western bank, with a cheer, which rang like the clarion of victory, they made a dash at the enemy, concealed in the long line of riflepits. The rebels, in a panic, fled, and sought protection behind the redoubt. The victors found, to their dismay, that many of their cartridges

were soaked with water and utterly useless. Still, for an hour they fought against superior numbers. The rebels were behind their ramparts. The patriots, dividing with each other the few dry cartridges they possessed, soon found their ammunition expended, while, for some unexplained reason, no reënforcements were sent to support them. Why the men should have been sent across the creek to meet a vastly outnumbering force, and then be left there to be massacred, no one has yet revealed. It is a mystery which can, perhaps, be explained, but unfortunately it has not been, and we must leave it, as another in the long list of inexplicable events which have occurred during the progress of the war.*

As the fire of the patriots slackened, suddenly the rebels rushed out from behind their ramparts by thousands, and charged along the whole line of rifle-pits. The heroic little band, without ammunition, and with their ranks greatly thinned, found it impossible to resist the multitude crowding down upon them. They would all inevitably have been captured or slain, but for the admirable efficiency with which the guns of Ayres's battery were served. As the Vermonters, under the shelter of the batteries, abandoned the captured rifle-pits, and retreated to recross the stream, the rebels again occupied the pits, and opened upon them a terribly galling fire. Still, in good order, the National troops entered the creek, carrying with them their wounded comrades. Many were shot in the water. A boy of sixteen, who was in the midst of the carnage, has graphically described the storm of lead which fell upon them, by saying: "Why, sir, it was just like sap boiling, in that stream, the bullets fell so thick."

The heroism of these brave men could not be surpassed. As soon as they reached the eastern banks they rallied and commenced the fight anew. Many of them, regardless of the murderous fire of the foe, dashed back again into the stream to help out the wounded, who were clinging to the flooded trees.

Julian A. Scott, of the Third Vermont, a lad under sixteen years of age, was one of these heroes. Again and again he went back, apparently to almost certain death, and saved no less than nine of his companions. It is to be deplored that so many similar scenes of heroism, which this war has elicited, must pass into oblivion. The troops were saved from total destruction, mainly through the energy and military skill of Captain Ayres. He selected just the right position for his batteries. Keeping a watchful eye upon the foe, the moment he saw them form to charge he opened upon them, from his twenty-two guns, so terrible a fire that they did not dare leave their intrenchments. The fire was so accurate that every rebel cannon was silenced. One ball swept a whole file of rebels to the ground. A patriot boy, but seventeen years of age, John Harrington, having returned across the stream, through the tempest of bullets, saw a wounded comrade left in one of the rifle-pits. He immediately went back and brought him safely away. Lieutenant Whittemore watched the move

*The Prince de Joinville, in his pamphlet, simply remarks; "They advanced gallantly, carried the rifle pits, but their ammunition had been wetted in passing the stream; they were not neported, and retired after losing many of their number."