daring flank march was accomplished by | trains loaded with supplies. Upon learning Jackson, and on the twenty-sixth of August of this movement Pope at once fell back Thoroughfare Gap to join his endangered | ninth he pushed forward with speed, and by lieutenant. Pope's army had been reinforced by the corps of Porter and Heintzelman, and Reynolds' division of McClellan's army, and was at least one hundred and twenty thousand strong. He moved back rapidly to attack Jackson, and encountered Ewell's division near Manassas Junction on the twentyseventh. Ewell held his ground, and at night rejoined Jackson, who moved swiftly from Manassas to a new position near the old Bull Run battle-field. This brought him nearer to Lee, and secured his retreat in case of a defeat. Ewell's resistance deceived General Pope, who had posted McDowell's and Porter's corps to hold the road from Thoroughfare Gap, by which Lee must advance to Jackson's assistance. Supposing that Jackson meant to make a stand at Manassas, Pope ordered these troops to move from the positions they had taken and to advance upon Manassas Junction. Manassas was reached at noon on the twentyeighth, and then General Pope saw for the first time how he had been deceived by Jackson, and how he had blundered in leaving the road from Thoroughfare Gap open to Lee. His command was in a critical position, and he was so situated that he could not make the best use of the forces which were at his disposal. Repulse of the Union Forces. He endeavored to repair his error by attacking Jackson at once. He did attack that general in his new position late in the afternoon of the twenty-eighth, but was repulsed with severe loss. On the same afternoon General Lee with Longstreet's corps forced the passage of Thoroughfare Gap, and bivouacked that night in the open country beyond it. On the morning of the twenty noon his advanced division reached Jackson's position. By four o'clock in the afternoon the Confederate army was reunited' under the command of General Lee. About three o'clock in the afternoon General Pope determined to attack upon Lee's position, but was repulsed. On the thirtieth, having reunited all the corps of his army, General Pope determined to risk the fate of the campaign upon a decisive engagement. The Confederates held a large part of the old battlefield of Bull Run, and the conflict which ensued is usually MAJOR-GENERAL PHILIP KEARNEY. known as the second battle of Bull Run. It resulted in the defeat of General Pope, who was driven back to the heights of Centreville with heavy loss. On the thirty-first Jackson attacked the Federal rear-guard at Chantilly. A spirited encounter took place, and the Federal troops were slowly forced back, losing General Phil Kearney, one of the most accomplished officers in the service. General Pope now withdrew his army within the lines of Washington. He had lost since the opening of the campaign over thirty thousand men, including eight generals killed, thirty pieces of artillery, over twenty thousand stand of arms, and an enormous quantity of stores. The Confederate loss was nine thousand one hundred and twelve, including five generals. The defeat of the Union army and the presence of the Confederates on the Potomac placed the city of Washington in great danger. The government acted with vigor and decision in this emergency. The losses of Pope's army were made up by reinforcements. General Pope was relieved of command, and General McClellan was restored to the command of the army of the Potomac. He set to work with energy to reorganize the broken masses of Pope's army into an effective force. McClellan at South Mountain. General Lee now crossed the Potomac and invaded Maryland, hoping to be able not only to remove the war from the soil of Virginia, but also to obtain large reinforcements from the southern sympathizers in Maryland. In this he was disappointed, as scarcely any one joined him. On the fifth of September he crossed the Potomac, and on the sixth occupied Frederick City. Harper's Ferry was held by a force of eleven thousand men under Colonel Miles, and it was necessary to reduce this post in order to preserve the communications of the Confederate army with its own country. General Jackson was despatched with his corps to capture Harper's Ferry. He promptly carried the heights overlooking the town, and on the fifteenth of September the town and garrison surrendered to him after a feeble resistance. General Lee in the meantime had taken position at South Mountain to await the issue of Jackson's attack upon Harper's Ferry. McClellan, advancing slowly from Washington, reached Frederick on the twelfth of September. There he found a copy of General Lee's confidential order to his corps commanders, which had been lost by some one. This document gave the Confederate plan of operations, and enabled McClellan to act with certainty in directing his own movements. Hastening forward he attacked General Lee at South Mountain on the fourteenth of September, and after a stubborn fight Lee fell back behind Antietam Creek, and on the morning of the seventeenth was joined there by the troops of Jackson, who had made a forced march from Harper's Ferry. The Confederate army numbered about forty thousand men, having been terribly reduced by the straggling of the men on the march through Virginia. The Federal army numbered over eighty thousand men, and was eager for a contest. The prolonged resistance of Harper's Ferry, and the losses of his army by straggling, had defeated Lee's plan of campaign. He was now compelled to retire across the Potomac, and he halted on the Antietam only to secure the reunion of Jackson's corps with his army and a safe passage of the Potomac. Battle of Antietam. On the morning of the seventeenth of September General McClellan attacked the Confederate army in force, but it held its ground during the day, both armies at nightfall occupying about the same positions they had held in the morning. The Federal loss was twelve thousand four hundred and sixty-nine, including thirteen generals wounded, one mortally; that of the Confederates eight thousand seven hundred and ninety, including three generals killed, five wounded. The eighteenth passed quietly away, and that night Lee silently withdrew from his position and retreated across the Potomac. He retired valley to Winchester. The Federal army moved to the vicinity of Harper's Ferry, and did not cross the Potomac until the second of November. up the Upon entering Virginia General McClellan moved towards the Rappahannock, with the design of interposing his army between Lee and Richmond. General Lee at once left the valley where he had been detained by the necessity of watching McClellan, and by a rapid march to Warrenton, placed his army between Richmond and McClellan. The Federal army continuing to advance, he fell back to Culpepper Court-house, and McClellan moved forward to the vicinity of Warren Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg, he found the Confederate army strongly posted on the heights in the rear of the latter place, prepared to dispute his advance. He crossed the Rappahannock on the eleventh and twelfth of December, and on the thirteenth attacked the Confederate position, which had been strongly entrenched. He was repulsed with a loss of eleven thousand men, and compelled to retreat across the Rappahannock. This terrible reverse VIEW OF ANTIETAM BATTLE GROUND. ton. On the seventh of November, when about to resume his advance, McClellan, whose conduct of the campaign had not pleased either President Lincoln or the people of the North, was removed from the command of the Army of the Potomac, which was conferred upon General Ambrose E. Burnside. Burnside at once advanced to the banks of the Rappahannock opposite Fredericksburg, intending to pass the river at that place and move upon Richmond. Upon his arrival at greatly disheartened the Army of the Potomac, and destroyed its faith in its commander; and so the year closed gloomily for the Union cause in the east. In the fall of 1862 President Lincoln took the bold step of issuing a proclamation announcing that if the seceded States did not return to their allegiance to the Union, he would declare all the negro slaves within their limits free from the first of January next. This proclamation was issued on the twenty-second of September, immediately after the battle of Antietam. The army and navy of the United States were to enforce the terms of this proclamation, and from the new year there was to be no more slavery within the limits of the Union. The proclamation was avowedly a war measure, but it was sustained by Congress by appropriate legislation during the ensuing winter. |