Having located the works and prepared your sketch, you will report to Capt. Frederick E. Prime of the corps of engineers, who will furnish you the means of construction. It is important that these works should be built with the least possible delay; you will therefore expedite matters as fast as possible. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, TO CAPT. FRED. R. MUNTHER. Lt. Col. A. D. C. Present. BRIG-GEN. J. G. BARNARD, WASHINGTON, D. C., April 6, 1862. Chief Engineer Army of the Potomac. SIR,-I enclose you herewith a copy of the instructions which I gave to Captain Munther, in reference to the defenses of Manassas. As there has been a new department created (that of the Rappahannock) it is possible that you and I, as well as General McClellan, are relieved from the further consideration of this subject at the present time. I will, however, state for your information, should the subject ever come before you again, that in my opinion the com. munication with Manassas by land should be secured. To effect this in the best manner, so far as my observations extended, I think the bridge over Bull Run, near Union Mills and just above the railroad bridge, should be rebuilt or thoroughly repaired, and that a small work, or perhaps two or three open batteries, should be erected on the adjacent heights, to protect it as well as the railroad bridge. The communication by land would then be through or near Centreville, over the road used by the enemy. I write this for fear something should detain me here, but I hope to leave here to join you to-morrow. My health is much improved. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Lt.-Col. A. D. C. I may be permitted also to mention that the plans (also unexecuted by my successor) indicated in my letter of instructions to General Banks dated March 16, 1862, for intrenching Chester Gap and the point where the Manassas Gap Railroad crosses the Shenandoah, were for the purpose of preventing even the attempt at such a raid as that of Jackson in the month of May following. MILITARY INCIDENTS OF THE FIRST PERIOD. Before taking up the history of the embarkation and the Peninsular campaign, I should remark that during the fall aud winter of 1861-2, while the army of the Potomac was in position in front of Washington, reconnoissances were made from time to time, and skirmishes frequently occurred, which were of great importance in the education of the troops, accustoming them to the presence of the enemy, and giving them confidence under fire. There were many instances of individual gallantry displayed in these affairs: the reports of most of them will be found among the documents which accompany this report. One of the most brilliant of these affairs was that which took place at Drainesville on Dec. 20, 1861, when the 3d Brigade of McCall's Division, under Brig.-Gen. E. O. C. Ord, with Easton's Battery, routed and pursued four regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and a battery of six pieces. The operations of Brig.-Gen. F. W. Lander on the Upper Potomac during the months of January and February, 1862, frustrated the attempts of General Jackson against the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Cumberland, &c., and obliged him to fall back to Winchester. His constitution was impaired by the hardships he had experienced, and on the 2d of March the fearless General Lander expired, a victim to the excessive fatigues of the campaign. SECOND PERIOD. PART I. THE MOVEMENT TO THE PENINSULA. THE Council, composed of four corps commanders, organized by the President of the United States, at its meeting on the 13th March, adopted Fort Monroe as the base of operations for the movement of the army of the Potomac upon Richmond. For the prompt and successful execution of the projected operation, it was regarded by all as necessary that the whole of the four corps should be employed, with at least the addition of ten thousand men drawn from the forces in the vicinity of Fortress Monroe: that position and its dependencies being regarded as amply protected by the naval force in its neighborhood, and the advance of the main army up the Peninsula, so that it could be safely left with a small garrison. In addition to the land forces, the cooperation of the navy was desired in the projected attack upon the batteries at Yorktown and Gloucester, as well as in controlling the York and James Rivers for the protection of our flanks, and the use of transports, bringing supplies to the army. With these expectations, and for reasons stated elsewhere in this report, my original plan of moving by Urbana and West Point was abandoned, and the line with Fort Monroe as a base adopted. In the arrangements for the transportation of the army to the Peninsula by water, the vessels were originally ordered to rendezvous mainly at Annapolis, but upon the evacuation of Manassas and the batteries of the lower Potomac by the enemy, it became more convenient to embark the troops and material at Alexandria, and orders to that effect were at once given. In making the preliminary arrangements for the movement, it was determined that the 1st Corps (Gen. McDowell's) should move as a unit, first, and effect a landing either at the SandBox, some four miles south of Yorktown, in order to turn all the enemy's defenses at Ship Point, Howard's Bridge, Big Bethel, etc., or else, should existing circumstances render it preferable, land on the Gloucester side of York River, and move on West Point. The transports, however, arrived slowly and few at a time. In order, therefore, to expedite matters, I decided to embark the army by divisions as transports arrived, keeping army corps together as much as possible, and to collect the troops at Fort Monroe. In determining the order of embarkation, convenience and expedition were especially consulted, except that the 1st Corps was to be embarked last, as I intended to move it in mass to its point of disembarkation, and to land it on either bank of the York, as might then be determined. On the 17th of March, Hamilton's division of the 3d corps embarked at Alexandria, and proceeded to Fort Monroe, with the following orders: GEN. C. S. HAMILTON, Comd'g Division,— WASHINGTON, D. C., March 17, 1862. You will, on your arrival at Fort Monroe, report to Gen. Wool, and request him to assign you ground for encamping your division. You will remain at Fort Monroe until further orders from Gen. McClellan. Should Gen. Wool require the services of your division in repelling an attack, you will please obey his orders, and use every effort to carry out his views. R. B. MARCY, Chief-of-Staff. On the 22d of March, as soon as transportation was ready, Gen. Fitz John Porter's division of the same corps embarked. Gen. Heintzelman was ordered to accompany it, under the following instructions: HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, BRIG.-GEN. S. P. HEINTZELMAN, Comd'g 3d Corps, GENERAL,-Upon the disembarkation of Porter's division at Fort Monroe, I have to request that you will move your two divisions (Porter's and Hamilton's) some three or four miles out from the fort, to find good camping places where wood and water can be readily obtained, and where your position will be good in a defensive point of view. You may find it advisable to place one division on or near the road leading to Yorktown from Newport News, the other upon that leading to Yorktown direct from Fort Monroe. If you find that the nature of the country will permit easy communication and mutual support between the two divisions, it will be best to place one on each road. It will be best to remain pretty near the fort for the present, in order to give the impression that our object is to attack Norfolk rather than Yorktown. You will do well, however, to push strong reconnoissances well to the front, to ascertain the position of the enemy and his pickets. I will, as soon as possible, reinforce you by the 3d division of your corps, and it is probable that a part or the whole of the 4th Corps will also move from Fort Monroe: this will probably be determined before your disembarkation is completed, and you will be informed accordingly. My desire would be to make no important move in advance until you are fully prepared to follow it up, and give the enemy no time to recover. The quarter-masters of your corps will receive detailed instructions, in regard to land transportation, from General Van Vliet. It will be advisable to mobilize your corps with the least possible delay, and have it prepared for an advance. I have directed extra clothing, ammunition, etc., to be sent to Fort Monroe, so that all deficiencies may be supplied without delay. Please report to me frequently and fully the condition of things on the new field of operations, and whatever intelligence you gain as to the enemy. |