A Youth's History of the Great Civil War
Van Evrie, Horton & Co., ©1866
Revised edition, ©2006 www.ronie-mooney-encs.us
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CHAPTER XXIV, EMBARKATION OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC FOR THE PENINSULA-EVACUATION OF YORKTOWN-BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG
While the events described in the last chapters were progressing General McClellan was busy in perfecting the Army of the Potomac for a grand march against Richmond. For more than six months he had been wholly employed in perfecting that great army. The impatience of Congress, and the clamor of the abolitionized people, had been continually raising the cry again of "on to Richmond." But General McClellan rather pompously and boastfully declared we "were to have no more defeats, no more retreats," and no amount of clamor could induce him to move before he was ready.
But early in the spring of 1862 he began to think of placing his tremendous army in the field of active operations. But a very great difficulty confronted him. The Black Republican leaders discovered that he was not an abolitionist. They furthermore saw that he was so popular with the army that his views would naturally be to a great extent shared by it. Then some Democratic papers had mentioned his name in connection with the next nomination for the Presidency. It was at once seen that his very great popularity with the army would render him a formidable candidate. So they resolved upon his ruin, even if it cost the North the price of its whole army. Northern preachers declared that the best thing for the country would be McClellan's defeat.
Mr.Lincoln and his Cabinet were for having the Army of the Potomac go over the old Bull Run route on the way to Richmond. To this plan General McClellan was invincibly opposed. The question was finally referred to a council of the chief officers of the army, by whom General McClellan's plan of the Peninsular campaign was almost unanimously recommended. But this was not the end of his embarrassments. A new Department of the Mountain, in Virginia, had been created to make a place for General Fremont. Notwithstanding that General had conducted himself so badly and foolishly in Missouri that the President was obliged to remove him from his command, the more violent leaders of Mr.Lincoln's party dogged the President until he made a new place for him. And now they insisted that, notwithstanding General McClellan was just moving to try to take Richmond, ten thousand of his men under General Blenker should be taken from him and sent to Fremont's army away up to the mountains.
General McClellan so strongly remonstrated against this act-setting forth that he already had the smallest number of men he thought necessary for his great undertaking-that the President assured him that the men in Blenker's command should not be withdrawn from his army. Notwithstanding this solemn promise of the President he did order Blenker's division to be sent to Fremont, only the day before McClellan was to start on his great campaign. For this act of faithlessness Mr.Lincoln pleaded the great "pressure upon him."
While General McClellan was solemnly reflecting upon this vacillation or treachery on the part of Lincoln, a member of his staff said:"General, the authorities at Washington are painfully afraid that you will succeed in taking Richmond, and therefore are stripping your army in the beginning." McClellan replied,"Such treachery seems impossible, and yet it does look like it."
But the preparations were fully made for the transportation of the Army of the Potomac to the Peninsula. The Peninsula is an isthmus formed by the James and York Rivers. It is from seven to fourteen miles wide, and about fifty miles long. To reach it the grand army went in transports down the Potomac to Fortress Monroe, which is seventy-five miles land march, over the Peninsula to Richmond. The van of the grand army started for Fortress Monroe on the 17th of March, 1862.Division after division left as fast as the transport boats could be loaded. It was a grand sight. The whole transport fleet consisted of over four hundred steamers and sailing vessels, which had to carry an army of one hundred and twenty-one thousand, five hundred men, with fourteen thousand animals, forty-four batteries,together with wagons, ambulances, pontoon trains and all the other vast appointments for so tremendous an army.
It took from the 17th of March to the 2d of April to transport this vast army from Washington to Fortress Monroe. It at once commenced its march towards Yorktown on the way to Richmond.
At Yorktown was a Confederate fort, which had just been re-enforced by General Johnston, the Confederate commander. General McClellan's plans for forcing those works were entirely frustrated by want of support from Washington. His intention was to make a naval and land assault upon the place at the same time. The naval part of the combined attack was to be executed by Flag-officer Goldsborough; and the land attack he assigned to General McDowell's corps. But Flag-officer Goldsborough wrote General McClellan that he could send no naval support to him and on the very day when he expected McDowell's corps he received an order from Washington that that part of his army had been detached from his command, and retained at Washington.
This was a heavy blow to McClellan. The same member of his staff who had addressed him on a former occasion in relation to the jealousy of the Administration, said: "You see how it is, General; it is certain that you are not to be supported in this campaign."
There was now nothing left for McClellan to do but to undertake the siege of Yorktown. This work he commenced at once. When on the fifth of May he had succeeded in finishing his works necessary to commence firing upon the fort, it was discovered that it was evacuated by the Confederates. This fact called forth many unfriendly remarks from the Abolition press. A siege which had been rendered necessary by the withdrawal of expected support from Washington, and had been executed with so much skill as to force the Confederates to evacuate the fort without risking a fight, was still the subject of unfriendly criticism in the government organs.
The Confederates evacuated Yorktown on the 3d of May. It was General Johnston's design to retreat with his whole army to the defences of Richmond. To General Longstreet was entrusted the duty of defending the rear of the army and of worrying the advancing columns of McClellan as much as possible. For this purpose General Longstreet made a stand at Williamsburg, about fifteen miles from Yorktown.
At Williamsburg the Confederates had somewhat extensive works, called Fort Magruder. Though it was no part of the Confederate plan of the defence of Richmond to hold this fort after McClellan had passed Yorktown, yet it was a good place to inflict some chastisement upon the invading army without any risk whatever to the Confederate army. So at this point on the fifth of May a bloody battle occurred. The Northern forces engaged were Hooker's division, Smith's division, a part of Couch's, and Hancock's brigade, and the rear of the Confederate army, commanded by Longstreet.
The battle was opened by Hooker directly in front of Fort Magruder. The fort kept up only a sufficient show of resistance to thoroughly engage the attention of General Hooker, while the wily General Longstreet poured in a rapid succession of attacks upon his left flank, which gave Hooker more than he wanted to do all day, and which, but for the arrival of General Kearney's division at five o'clock in the afternoon, would have resulted in the destruction of General Hooker's whole division. During the battle the Confederates steadily but slowly forced back the invaders over two miles. Both sides fought with determined bravery. But Longstreet so skilfully handled his troops that he inflicted a terrible punishment upon the Federals, with a comparatively small damage to his force. General Hooker's loss was one thousand seven hundred men, six field pieces, several thousand stand of arms and several hundred prisoners.
At nightfall the battle-field was in the possession of the Confederates. At two o'clock the next morning, after securing whatever booty the field afforded, Longstreet commenced to fall back towards the main body of the Confederate army, which was then many miles ahead of him.
The Federals made no haste to follow. They did not even enter Williamsburg in force until towards evening the next day, sixteen hours after the Confederates had left it. But as Longstreet was without transportation he was obliged to leave his wounded behind in Williamsburg. It is rather a mortifying thing to reflect upon that the Federal commander took occasion from this fact to claim a victory; when the plain truth was that Longstreet had turned round and dealt the advance columns of McClellan's army a terrible blow, and then pursued his march, with very little loss to himself, and considerable booty from the foe. Enough of such victories would not have left McClellan a single soldier to march back to Washington. The number of Federal soldiers engaged in the battle could not have been much less than forty thousand, while Longstreet had but twenty thousand in the fight.
The gallant Colonel Lomax of the Nineteenth Mississippi regiment was killed while leading a most daring charge against Dan Sickles' brigade; and his negro recovered the body in the Federal lines, and carried it several miles on his back, and conveyed it to Richmond to the bereaved wife, to keep a promise he had made-"that he would never let his master's body fall into the hands of the enemy."
Up to the time that abolition demoralization reached the Southern negroes their hearts were with their masters and their masters' cause. In almost every town in the South they gave balls, parties and fairs for the benefit of the Confederate soldiers and sent thousands of dollars, of clothes, blankets, shoes,&c,for "Massa and de boys in Varginny." In Vicksburg the negroes gave a ball which realized a thousand dollars, and freely gave it all for the Confederate cause. Indeed, it was their custom to boast "dat de Soofern colored man can whip a Norfern nigger wid de Yankee to back him."
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