in the most cool, determined, and skilful retreat. This General Banks conducted with such heroism and ability as rendered it virtually a victory; and his conduct elevated him to a very high position among military men. Contesting every inch of the way, and fighting an incessant battle, he repelled the assaults of his foes, who outnumbered him four to one. After an uninterrupted retreat and battle of forty-eight hours, he conducted his army, in a march of fifty-three miles, safely across the Potomac, near Martinsburg, saving almost his whole wagon-train and every piece of artillery. As soon as the Government heard of the commencement of this formidable raid, with the probable destruction of General Banks's corps, and the consequent imminent exposure of Washington, the excitement and anxiety became intense. General Fremont and General McDowell were telegraphed immediately to move to the support of General Banks. On Saturday evening, May 24th, General McDowell received from the President the following order: "You are instructed, laying aside for the present the movement on Richmond, to put twenty thousand men in motion at once for the Shenandoah, moving in the line, or in advance of the line, of the Manassas Gap railroad. Your object will be to capture the force of Jackson and Ewell, either in co-operation with General Fremont, or, in case want of supplies or transportation interfered with his movements, it is believed that the force which you move will be sufficient to accomplish the object alone. Reports received this moment are that Banks is fighting with Ewell, eight miles from Harper's Ferry." General McDowell was then on the eve of forming a junction with General McClellan. This summons, frustrating all his plans, was to him a bitter disappointment. But, like a good soldier and a true patriot, he unhesitatingly obeyed. His immediate response shows the promptness of his movement, and the sore trial which obedience cost him. His reply was: "The President's order has been received, and is in process of execution. This is a crushing blow to us." The President responded the same hour, the telegrams passing like the lightning's flash: "I am highly gratified by your alacrity in obeying my orders. The change was as painful to me as it can possibly be to you, or to any one. Every thing now depends upon the celerity and vigor of your movements." To this General McDowell replied in words which, in justice to as gallant a soldier and as pure a patriot as has drawn his sword in this warfare, should be recorded. The reply was to the President: "I obeyed your order immediately, for it was positive and urgent, and perhaps, as a subordinate, there I ought to stop. But I trust I may be allowed to say something in relation to the subject, especially in view of your remark, that every thing depends upon the vigor and celerity of my movements. I beg to say that co-operation between General Fremont and myself, to cut off Jackson and Ewell, is not to be counted upon, even if it is not a practical impossibility; next, that I am entirely beyond helping distance of General Banks, and no celerity or vigor will be availing, so far as he is concerned; next, that by a glance at the map it will be seen, that the line of retreat of the enemy's forces up the valley is shorter than mine to go against him. It will take a week or ten days for the force to get to the valley by the route which will give it food and forage, and by that time the enemy will have retreated. I shall gain nothing for you there, and lose much for you here. It is, therefore, not only on personal grounds that I have a heavy heart in the matter, but I feel that it throws us all back, and from Richmond north, we shall have all our large mass paralyzed, and shall have to repeat what we have just accomplished." All this was essentially true. By straining every nerve, General McDowell was not able to cut off the retreat of the bold, ably led, and fleetfooted rebels. But had not both General McDowell and General Fremont rushed for the valley to cut off their retreat, they would not have deemed retreat necessary. Their lines of communication would not have been endangered; they might have inflicted incalculable injury upon the National cause, and it is by no means improbable that they might have taken and destroyed Washington. Indeed, as it was, the peril of the capture of Washington was so imminent, that telegrams were immediately sent to all the adjacent Northern States, urging the Governors to send instantly the militia to defend the Capital. The following dispatch to the Governor of Massachusetts, dated May 25, 1864, illustrates this well-founded aların :— "Intelligence from various quarters leaves no doubt that the enemy, in great force, are marching on Washington. You will please organize and forward immediately all the militia and volunteer force in your State. "EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War." Upon this same day, May 25th, the President, in a telegram to General McClellan, said : "If McDowell's force were now beyond our reach, we should be utterly helpless. Apprehensions of something like this, and no unwillingness to sustain you, has always been my reason for withholding McDowell's force from you. Please understand this, and do the best you can with the forces you now have."* At the same time, General Fremont had received a telegram instructing him to cross the Shenandoah Mountains, with his whole force, from Franklin to Harrisonsburg. Could he have done this, the retreat of Jackson might have been effectually cut off. But General Fremont deemed it impossible to take that route. It involved a march of fifty miles, over the roughest roads, and through a region where neither forage nor supplies could be obtained. Neither had he any sufficient means of transportation. He therefore assumed the responsibility of taking a different route. He received the order Saturday evening. With the accustomed promptness of this man, he had his whole army in motion by three o'clock the next morning. Ilad the Prince de Joinville been present, he would not have accused the Americans of a characteristic trait of delay. Descending rapidly the banks of the south fork of the Potomac, he * Report of Congressional Committee, p. 10. crossed the mountains at a lower, or more northern point. After one of the most rapid and energetic marches on record, through an incessant storm of rain and horrible roads, his advance guard reached Strasburg at noon of the first of June. At the same time General McDowell's advance, under General Shields, moving with equal endurance and celerity, reached Front Royal from the east, ten miles from Strasburg. But, unfortunately, Jackson and his band, a few hours before, had rushed by the point, and were retreating at full speed, with all the plunder they had gained, up the valley towards Richmond. It was a very narrow escape for the rebels. They just succeeded in slipping between General McDowell on the east and General Fremont on the west. The advance guard of these two National forces, forming a junction, pressed impetuously on in pursuit of the foe. The rear-guard of the rebels made an occasional stand, where the ground presented great advantages, and fierce contests ensued. On Monday, June 2d, there was a battle of several hours at Woodstock. During Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, the rebels ran and the patriots pursued, pelting them with shot and shell, as one week before the patriots had fled before their determined foes. Such is war. No man can give blows without receiving blows in return. The final conflict was at Port Republic, where the Shenandoah is spanned by a long bridge.* It was Sunday morning, June 8th. The rebel General, whose great military ability no one will question, had sagaciously chosen his position at a spot called Cross Keys. The battle commenced with heavy firing at eleven o'clock, and continued, with occasional lulls, and then with renewed violence, until dark. It was a drawn battle; but as the rebels fought in their chosen position and under cover, their loss was less than that of the Union forces. General Fremont was able to bring into the battle only his advance of about three thousand men. General Jackson arrayed in opposition eight thousand. The patriot troops, though they fought heroically, were unable to dislodge their foes, who were equally determined, equally well officered, advantageously posted, and who outnumbered their assailants more than two to one. The rebels held the field. Their only object, however, was to secure a safe retreat. The united army of Generals Fremont and McDowell was rushing down upon them. On Sunday night, General Jackson crossed the Shenandoah River with all his troops, and destroyed the long bridge behind them. With but little difficulty they repelled the assaults of General Shields, who, with an insufficient force, did what he could to head them A correspondent of the Philadelphia Press, writing from Winchester, Virginia, relates the following incident of Banks's retreat, as illustrative of the barbarity which characterized the rebel women during the war: "A soldier was wounded in the foot, and had sat down on the steps of one of the houses in Winchester. He had not been sitting there long, when a woman came out and asked him if he were not able to walk? He replied that he was not. The woman, seeing a revolver in his belt, asked him to let her look at it. The man, suspecting nothing wrong, handed it to her. But she had had it in her hands but a few minutes when she presented it to his head, and demanded that he should leave the steps. He did so, and after he had walked a few steps, she fired the pistol, the ball entering his side, and he fell on the street, where he instantly expired. This is but a specimen of the numerous incidents I have heard, and I only give it as one which I know come from a reliable source." |