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CHAPTER VII.

THE END OF THE DRAMA.

THE memorable "battles around Richmond" had thus resulted in the defeat of the Federal campaign, and the remnant of General McClellan's army had retired for safety under the frowning muzzles of the gunboats on James River.

We have traced in detail the movements which led to this result, but in the hurry of the narrative have omitted some things which are necessary to an intelligent comprehension of the situation of the adversaries.

At the moment when General Lee struck at him, General McClellan was within cannon shot of Richmond, and his great numbers seemed to render its capture certain. From the White House, their base of supply on York River, to Seven Pines, within four or five miles of the city, the Federal troops were encamped on every hill and in every valley. The fields and forests of New Kent, Henrico, and Hanover, which had made those counties among the most attractive in the State, were full of tents; the woods were disappearing after the fences, the meadows were traversed by wagon roads, the old mansions taken for hospitals or burned; and, under their impromptu arbors of boughs, the Federal soldiers divided the proceeds of their forays upon the neighboring estates. The troops seem to have fully expected to take Richmond whenever a general advance was made upon it; but General McClellan was not so well assured of the result. He seems to have shrunk from risking a battle, and evidently designed to capture the place by regular approaches to advance step by step, constructing powerful works as he proceeded, until his heavy guns should bear directly upon the city, and compel its evacuation. He was energetically pursuing this design, when, on the 27th of July, he was compelled

to concentrate his army, as far as he could, behind Powhite Creek, near Cold Harbor, to protect himself from destruction.

This battle has been much misunderstood. It has been regarded by many persons as only a link in the chain of events, but it was in reality the day of decisive defeat for General McClellan. The action at Mechanicsville was comparatively an affair of the outpost, and the Federal commander promptly abandoned his position there, and concentrated his entire available force for the decisive struggle at Cold Harbor. He meant that to be the ground upon which the issue should be decided; his ability to hold the works behind Powhite Creek, the test of every thing. They were stormed, and carried with the bayonet, and General McClellan had been defeated. What remained for him now was retreat; and all the fighting which followed was merely the effort of a good soldier to fall back in order, and save the remnant of his army.

General McClellan's position was at that moment extremely embarrassing. As we have seen, he was called upon to decide rapidly whether he would retreat down the Peninsula, thus preserving his stores at the White House, or march across to James River, a movement the moral effect of which would be much better on the troops. He decided promptly upon the latter course, but successfully masked his intention. A force was left on the north bank of the Chickahominy, and General Lee was thus in doubt as to the intended line of retreat. When that force was attacked on the 28th, it retired to the southern bank, and the perilous retrograde movement through the swamps of Henrico and Charles City commenced. The ability displayed by General McClellan in this movement is unquestionable. Its success, with the subsequent campaign of the same commander in Maryland, entitle him, all things considered, to the palm of superiority over all other generals of the Federal army. At every step the Confederate advance was confronted by a powerful and admirably handled rear guard, supported by artillery; and the skill and courage displayed by the Federal officers and troops, with the difficult character of the country, effected their object.

At

White Oak Swamp, the position chosen by General McClellan was so excellent that Jackson could make no impression upon it; and at Frayser's Farm the Confederate columns were held in check until dark. On Malvern Hill a decisive stand was made, McClellan massed his artillery, fought with the fury of despair, and repulsed every assault upon his shattered ranks. When he reached Harrison's Landing, as he did on the same night, it was to his skill and soldership alone that the Federal authorities owed the salvation of the army.

The Northern forces had thus escaped utter rout, but the results achieved by General Lee's attack were very great. In mere war material these embraced fifty pieces of artillery, many thousands of small-arms, millions worth of property, and thousands of prisoners. But the supreme result was the deliverance of the Confederate capital. Richmond had unquestionably been in imminent danger of capture, and all hearts had begun to despond, when, in one afternoon, the Federal power in front of the city was effectually broken, and the campaign terminated.

Jackson's part in these events has been described, and he now became absorbed in his favorite project of invading the North. This became his possessing thought, and was no secret from those with whom he conversed. As day after day passed, in the woods of Charles City, his impatience became extreme, and one night, while lying down in his tent conversing with a confidential friend, he suddenly rose from his couch, struck it violently with his clenched hand, and exclaimed:

"Why don't we advance! Now is the time for an advance into Pennsylvania; McClellan is paralyzed, and the Scipio Africanus policy is the best! Let the President only give me the men, and I will undertake it. I say this in no improper spirit. I will go under any one-under Ewell, or anybody who will fight. General Lee, I believe, would go, but perhaps he cannot." And then came that tribute to General Lee which we have already, presented to the reader.

The views of Jackson were not concurred in by the Confederate authorities, who, menaced still by the force remaining

with General McClellan, and by the Federal army assembling at Warrenton, seemed to have considered their resources too limited to risk so important a movement, at such a distance from the capital. The absence, however, of those official revelations which are the basis of all just views of public events, renders any definite statement upon this subject premature.

With two little incidents which belong to this period, we shall conclude our sketch of Jackson around Richmond. The first exhibits that sternness of spirit which his sweet smile and courteous manner concealed, and is thus related by the person who witnessed it. Jackson sent an order to one of his officers, in the afternoon at Malvern Hill, to advance across the open space in front of the Federal works and attack them. The officer in question hurried to Jackson, and said almost rudely: "Did you order me to advance over that field, sir?" Jackson's eye flashed under the rim of his cap, and, in his briefest tones, he said:

"Yes."

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"Impossible, sir!" exclaimed the officer, my men will be annihilated! Nothing can live there! They will be annihilated !” Jackson listened in silence, but his face grew cold and rigid with displeasure. He gazed steadily for a moment at the speaker, raised his finger, and in low brief tones said:

"General I always endeavor to take care of my wounded and to bury my dead. You have heard my orderobey it!"

These words admitted of no reply, and the order was carried out. The officer who relates the incident declares that he has never before or since seen such an expression as that which burned in the eye of Jackson as he uttered the above words. He looked "dangerous "-and that admonition closed the interview.

The second incident displays the great personal popularity which Jackson had already secured. On the morning after the battle of Malvern Hill he was riding on the left of his line, when he met Colonel Munford of the cavalry, and after some words

upon military matters, asked him if he had managed to secure any breakfast. The Colonel informed him that he had, and Jackson said:

"I should like to have some myself. I wonder if I can get some buttermilk?"

"Yes, General-come with me," was Colonel Munford's

answer.

And they rode to the plain mansion in which an old lady of the humbler class had furnished Colonel Munford with his breakfast. "Can I get some breakfast for General Jackson, madam?" asked the officer; "he has had none to-day."

"For whom?" exclaimed the good woman, pausing in her work and looking earnestly at the speaker.

"For General Jackson," was the Colonel's reply.

"General Jackson! That is not General Jackson!" she again exclaimed, pointing to the man in the dingy uniform. "Yes it is, madam."

The old lady gazed at the General for a moment in silence; her face flushed red, and raising both hands she suddenly burst into tears.

Every thing in her house was produced without delay, including the longed-for buttermilk; but nothing, evidently, in the old lady's estimation was good enough for her hero.* These things touched Jackson more than the plaudits of victory.

CHAPTER VIII.

GENERAL POPE IN CULPEPPER.

THE disastrous issue of affairs on the Chickahominy took place at a moment when the Federal arms had achieved important successes in the West.

In that quarter the Confederates had met with serious re

* These incidents are related on the authority of Colonel T. T. Munford, of the cavalry.

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