6

the rear, lying down, for perhaps half an hour, General Hood came for us, and moving by the right flank about half a mile, halted us in an open space to the right of some timber, and in rear of an apple orchard. The sight which we here beheld beggars description. The ground was strewn with the dead and dying, while our ranks were broken at every instant by flying and panic-stricken soldiers. In front of us was the Old 3d brigade,' who, but a few moments before, had started with cheers to storm the fatal palisade. But the storm of iron and lead was too severe, they wavered' for a moment, and fell upon the ground. At this instant General Hood, who had, in person, taken command of our regiment, commanded in his clear ringing voice, Forward, quick, march,' and onward moved the little band of five hundred, with the coolness of veterans. Here Colonel Marshall fell dead from his horse, pierced by a Minié ball. Volleys of musketry, and showers of grape, canister, and shell ploughed through us, but were only answered by the sternClose up-close up to the colors,' and onward they rushed over the dead and dying, without a pause, until within about one hundred yards of the breast works. We had reached the apex of the hill, and some of the men seeing the enemy just before them, commenced discharging their pieces. It was at this point that preceding brigades had halted, and beyond which none had gone, in consequence of the terrible concentrated fire of the concealed enemy. At this critical juncture the voice of General Hood was heard above the din of battle, "Forward, forward, charge right down on them, and drive. them out with the bayonet.' Fixing bayonets as they moved, they made one grand rush for the fort; down the hill, across the creek and fallen timber, and the next minute saw our battle flag planted upon the captured breast work. The enemy, frightened at the rapid approach of pointed steel, rose from behind their defences, and started up the hill at speed. One volley was poured into their backs, and it seemed as if every ball found a victim, so great was the slaughter. Their works were ours, and, as our flag moved from the first to the second tier of de

fences, a shout arose from the shattered remnant of that regiment, and which will long be remembered by those who heard it; a shout which announced that the wall of death was broken, and victory, which had hovered doubtfully for hours over that bloody field, had at length perched upon the battle flag of the 4th Texas. Right and left it was taken up and rang along the lines for miles; long after many of those who had started it were in eternity."

The movements which we have here referred to, took place together all along the line. The declining sun looked down. upon a conflict of unspeakable desperation and bitterness, and hour after hour the battle continued to rage, growing madder and more bloody as the shades of night drew near. With intense but thoroughly suppressed excitement, Jackson moved to and fro, receiving despatches, issuing orders, gazing at any one who spoke to him with a quick flash of the dark keen eye, and speaking in the curt, brief accents which characterized him. He listened intently to the crash of musketry which issued from the woods in front, and waited. The sound did not shift its direction, no change in the position of the combatants was discernible, and the roar continued, incessant and undiminished. It was obvious that the Federal forces had not been repulsed, and toward dusk a courier galloped up and delivered a message from one of the generals that "the enemy did not give way."

Jackson's eyes glittered under his cap, and in words which issued with a species of jerk, one by one as it were, from his lips, he said: "Tell him if they stand at sunset to press them with the bayonet! !”

General Stuart, who was near, said: "You had better send a second messenger, General, this one may be shot."

go."

Jackson nodded, and turning to a mounted man, said: "You

Major Pendleton of his staff, however, volunteered, and bore the duplicate order, and in a quarter of an hour the result was perceived. The musketry fire had been heavy before, it now became frightful. The order to charge with the bayonet had

been obeyed, and the Confederate lines advanced, carrying all before them. In spite of the terrible fire from the triple line of Federal infantry on the ridge, and the incessant cannonade of the batteries in front and flank, they steadily swept on, and before this determined charge the Federal lines gave way. They were driven from the ravines and swamps to the first tier of breastworks, over which the Confederates charged upon the crest blazing with artillery. This last line was stormed at the point of the bayonet, and abandoning their pieces the Federal troops fell back in the wildest disorder.

The battle was over, and, posted in advance of his batteries, near the Old Cold Harbor house, his figure clearly revealed by the fires which the shell had kindled, Jackson, whose corps had decided the event, listened to the wild cheers of his men, as they pressed the retreating enemy toward Grapevine bridge.

CHAPTER IV.

GENERAL MCCLELLAN RETREATS TO JAMES RIVER.

WHEN night fell on Friday, June 27th, 1862, General McClellan was defeated.

Two

Thenceforth the only question was, how could he withdraw his shattered and disheartened forces to a place of safety. lines of retreat were open, both perilous: One down the Peninsula, with the vengeful Confederates assailing him at every step, forcing him to turn and give battle day by day, if indeed the first encounter did not terminate in the destruction of his command. The other toward James River, on the right bank of the Chickahominy, right through the Confederate lines, through swamps and streams, over treacherous roads, through the tangled morass, with Lee on his rear and flank, ready to destroy him.

Neither prospect was inviting, but rapid decision was neces

sary; and General McClellan determined to retreat toward Harrison's Landing on James River.

The condition of things at the end of the battle, and the state of the Federal troops, is well described by a correspondent of the New York "Tribune." The first sentences contain a statement of the impression produced upon the Federal troops by Jackson's appearance at Cold Harbor:

"My note-book," writes the correspondent, "says that, at six o'clock, the enemy commenced a determined attack on our extreme right, evidently with a design of flanking us. It was an awful firing that resounded from that smoke-clouded valley— not heavier than some in the earlier part of the engagement, but more steady and determined. It was only by overbearing exhausted men with fresh ones, that the enemy succeeded in turning that flank, as, at length, he did succeed, only too well; and he accomplished it in three-quarters of an hour. At the expiration of that time, our officers judiciously ordered their men to fall back; the order was not obeyed so judiciously, for they ran back, broken, disordered, routed. Simultaneously the wounded and skulkers about the buildings used as hospitals, caught a panic, whether from a few riderless horses plunging madly across the field, or from instantaneously scenting the ront, does not appear. A motley mob started pell-mell for the bridges. They were overtaken by many just from the woods, and it seemed as if Bull Run were to be repeated.

"Meanwhile the panic extended. Scores of gallant officers endeavored to rally and re-form the stragglers, but in vain; while many officers forgot the pride of their shoulder-straps, and the honor of their manhood, and herded with the sneaks and cowards. O, that I had known the names of those officers I saw, the brave and the cowardly, that here, now, I might reward and punish, by directing upon each individual the respect or the contempt of a whole people!

"That scene was not one to be forgotten. Scores of riderless, terrified horses, dashing in every direction; thick flying bullets singing by, admonishing of danger; every minute a man

struck down; wagons and ambulances and cannon blockading the way; wounded men limping and groaning and bleeding amid the throng; officers and civilians denouncing, and reasoning, and entreating, and being insensibly borne along with the mass; the sublime cannonading, the clouds of battle-smoke, and the sun just disappearing, large and blood-red-I cannot picture it, but I see it, and always shall.”

On the morning of the 28th it was ascertained that a portion of the Federal force still remained on the northern bank of the Chickahominy; and as General Lee had no assurance that they would not push forward reënforcements from the Peninsula, and make another effort to preserve their communications, and save the enormous accumulation of public stores at the White House, General Ewell was sent forward to Dispatch Station, about one mile east of the Chickahominy, on the York River Railroad, with orders to seize the road, and cut the enemy's communications with the White House. In this movement General Stuart coöperated with his cavalry, advancing in front of Ewell, and encountering the enemy at Dispatch.

As soon as Stuart's cavalry dashed up, the Federal forces at this point retreated in haste across the Chickahominy, burning the railroad bridge in their rear, and Ewell coming up, destroyed a portion of the track of the road.

General Stuart then proceeded down the railroad, to ascertain if there was any movement of the enemy in that direction, and reaching the White House, attacked and drove off a gunboat, which was still in the river at that place. With a Blakely gun Captain John Pelham attacked the dark-hulled "monster," as the journals then styled these vessels, drove it from its moorings, and chased it down the river, until it disappeared behind the wooded bend. At General Stuart's approach, the officer commanding at the White House had set fire to the great masses of stores there, and retreated down the Peninsula. As the caralry galloped up, the scene was one mass of crackling flames and lurid smoke, through which were visible the blackened ruins of the "White House" mansion, the property of Colonel W.