rates occupied a strong position on the wooded slopes of a sugarloaf hill called Cedar or Slaughter Mountain, and it was General Jackson's object to induce his opponent to attack him.

Gradually as the supports to the skirmishers became engaged, and the reserves suffered from the fire of the enemy's guns, Banks advanced his divisions, and attempted to capture the batteries. Each attack was repulsed with considerable loss, and the action, which commenced at 5 P.M., was carried on until late in the evening. About 7 o'clock Pope arrived on the field, bringing up with him Ricketts' division, under the command of M'Dowell, who took up a position on the left of Banks. But the Federal line had been driven back about a mile, and as night closed in the troops bivouacked on the ground they occupied.

About midnight, by the light of a bright moon, the Confederate artillerymen discovered that the enemy was within range of their guns, and opened on them as they lay tired and wearied with the battle of the previous day. Great confusion ensued, and a panic spread through a portion of General Banks's corps. Some of the Confederate cavalry taking advantage of the occasion charged, and nearly succeeded in capturing General Pope and his staff.

The loss on the part of the Federals in this battle was very great. General Pope himself acknowledged to 1,800 killed, wounded, and prisoners, and states that fully 1,000 more straggled back to Culpepper Court-house and beyond, and never entirely returned to their commands. On the Confederate side General Winder

Review of the Recent Campaigns of Virginia.--Chesney.
† General Pope's official report.

was killed, and the loss in killed and wounded was about 800 or 900.

On the following morning General Sigel's corps arrived on the ground, making up the numbers of the Federals to about 22,000 men,* exclusive of the corps of General Banks, which, in consequence of having been so cut up in the action of the previous day, was ordered to Culpepper.

General Pope made no attempt to renew the battle, but sent for King's division from Fredericksburg, which joined the main army on the 11th. Thus reinforced Pope determined to attack on the 12th; but it was no part of General Jackson's plan to engage the whole Federal army with his single corps. He had succeeded in inflicting a serious check on its advanced divisions, and in saving Gordonsville, and he now proposed to defer operations until the arrival of the main army from Richmond, set free by the withdrawal of General M'Clellan's army from Harrison's Landing. He therefore retreated during the night of the 11th, and recrossed the Rapidan, the Federal cavalry again advancing as far as that stream.

The action of Cedar Mountain† alarmed the Federal Government, and General Halleck telegraphed at once to M'Clellan, repeating an order previously given, to send Burnside to Aquia Creek, and at the same time directing him to retreat to York Town and Fortress Monroe. This was accordingly done. General Burnside, with 13,000 men, was sent to Aquia Creek, and the stores, baggage, and sick were shipped on board the transports at Harrison's Landing, their se

* General Pope's official report.

† Called also Cedar Run and Slaughter Mountain.

curity from the Confederate batteries having been insured by the previous occupation of the opposite shore of the James River.

On the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th of August, the army marched by Williamsburg to York Town and Newport News. The defences of York Town were strengthened under the direction of General Keyes, and the several corps of the Army of the Potomac prepared to embark for the Rappahannock.

The campaign of the York Town peninsula had now terminated, and the only fruits of the advance on Richmond, the only result of the many battles and the terrible losses of the four-months' campaign, were the capture and occupation of York Town and Gloucester Point. The interest of the war was now centred in General Pope's army, which, it was thought by many, would soon have to struggle not for victory but for existence, and for the safety of Washington.

In order to form anything like a clear idea of the approaching campaign, it is necessary to bear in mind certain features of the country in which the opposing armies were about to manœuvre, and also the objects aimed at by their respective generals. General M'Clellan's scheme had been to protect Washington by an attack on Richmond, to disregard the enemy's aggressive movements in the Shenandoah Valley and towards Centreville, and to devote the whole energies of the country to the reduction of the Confederate capital. For this plan he had never received the cordial support of the President, who, anxious for the safety of Washington, preferred the Shenandoah Valley, or the route by Centreville or Gordonsville, for the scene of operations.

After General M'Clellan's defeat, and the accession

to power of General Pope, the last-named plan was adopted. Pope considered that the presence of a large army on the Rapidan would prevent any advance by the enemy into the Shenandoah Valley, and at the same time would lead to the capture of Gordonsville, the severance of Richmond from Western Virginia, and the ultimate investment of the city on its eastern side. He hoped to be able to advance along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, and, whilst driving back the enemy in his front, to protect his own long lines of communication. The distance from Washington to Richmond in a straight line is about 110 miles, by Gordonsville 150 miles. The direct route lay through Fredericksburg, of which the greater portion is by water, to Aquia Creek, and thence per rail for about 60 miles to Richmond. Although this route offered the advantage of a shorter distance, yet the movement of the army by Fredericksburg would not (it was considered) so directly cover Washington as an advance on Gordonsville; whilst the country between Fredericksburg and Richmond, being thickly wooded and intersected with streams, was unfitted for the march of any large force, and favourable for purposes of defence. For these reasons General Pope preferred the latter plan of operations. But at the same time that he covered Washington and marched on Gordonsville, he was anxious, and indeed was commanded, to keep open his communications with Fredericksburg, in order to receive reinforcements from the Army of the Potomac, arriving by Aquia Creek.

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