A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee - John Esten Cooke
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III.
LEE ASSIGNED TO THE COMMAND--HIS FAMILY AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
Lee had up to this time effected, as we have shown, almost nothing in
the progress of the war. Intrusted with no command, and employed
only in organizing the forces, or superintending the construction of
defences, he had failed to achieve any of those successes in the field
which constitute the glory of the soldier. He might possess the great
abilities which his friends and admirers claimed for him, but he was
yet to show the world at large that he did really possess them.
The decisive moment had now arrived which was to test him. He was
placed in command of the largest and most important army in the
Confederacy, and to him was intrusted the defence of the capital not
only of Virginia, but of the South. If Richmond were to fall, the
Confederate Congress, executive, and heads of departments, would all
be fugitives. The evacuation of Virginia might or might not follow,
but, in the very commencement of the conflict, the enemy would achieve
an immense advantage. Recognition by the European powers would be
hopeless in such an event, and the wandering and fugitive government
of the Confederacy would excite only contempt.
Such were the circumstances under which General Lee assumed command of
the "Army of Northern Virginia," as it was soon afterward styled. The
date of his assignment to duty was June 3, 1862--three days after
General Johnston had retired in consequence of his wound. Thirty days
afterward the great campaign around Richmond had been decided, and to
the narrative of what followed the appointment of Lee we shall at once
proceed, after giving a few words to another subject connected with
his family.
When General Lee left "Washington to repair to Richmond," he removed
the ladies of his family from Arlington to the "White House" on the
Pamunkey, near the spot where that river unites with the Mattapony to
form the York River. This estate, like the Arlington property, had
come into possession of General Lee through his wife, and as Arlington
was exposed to the enemy, the ladies had taken refuge here, with the
hope that they would be safe from intrusion or danger. The result was
unfortunate. The White House was a favorable "base" for the Federal
army, and intelligence one day reached Mrs. Lee and her family that
the enemy were approaching. The ladies therefore hastened from the
place to a point of greater safety, and before her departure Mrs. Lee
is said to have affixed to the door a paper containing the following
words:
"Northern soldiers who profess to reverence Washington, forbear to
desecrate the home of his first married life, the property of his
wife, now owned by her descendants.
"A GRAND-DAUGHTER OF MRS. WASHINGTON."
When the Federal forces took possession of the place, a Northern
officer, it is said, wrote beneath this:
"A Northern officer has protected your property, in sight of the
enemy, and at the request of your overseer."
The resolute spirit of Mrs. Lee is indicated by an incident which
followed. She took refuge with her daughters in a friend's house near
Richmond, and, when a Federal officer was sent to search the house,
handed to him a paper addressed to "the general in command," in which
she wrote:
"Sir: I have patiently and humbly submitted to the search of my house,
by men under your command, who are satisfied that there is nothing
here which they want. All the plate and other valuables have long
since been removed to Richmond, and are now beyond the reach of any
Northern marauders who may wish for their possession.
"WIFE OF ROBERT LEE, GENERAL C.S.A."
The ladies finally repaired for safety to the city of Richmond, and
the White House was burned either before or when General McClellan
retreated. The place was not without historic interest, as the scene
of Washington's first interview with Martha Custis, who afterward
became his wife. He was married either at St. Peter's Church near by,
or in the house which originally stood on the site of the one now
destroyed by the Federal forces. Its historic associations thus failed
to protect the White House, and, like Arlington, it fell a sacrifice
to the pitiless hand of war.
From this species of digression we come back to the narrative of
public events, and the history of the great series of battles which
were to make the banks of the Chickahominy historic ground. On
taking command, Lee had assiduously addressed himself to the task of
increasing the efficiency of the army: riding incessantly to and
fro, he had inspected with his own eyes the condition of the troops;
officers of the commissary, quartermaster, and ordnance departments
were held to a strict accountability; and, in a short time, the army
was in a high state of efficiency.
"What was the amount of the Confederate force under command of Lee?"
it may be asked. The present writer is unable to state this number
with any thing like exactness. The official record, if in existence,
is not accessible, and the matter must be left to conjecture. It is
tolerably certain, however, that, even after the arrival of Jackson,
the army numbered less than seventy-five thousand. Officers of high
rank and character state the whole force to have been sixty or seventy
thousand only.
It will thus be seen that the Federal army was larger than the
Confederate; but this was comparatively an unimportant fact. The event
was decided rather by generalship than the numbers of the combatants.
IV
LEE RESOLVES TO ATTACK.
General Lee assumed command of the army on the 3d of June. A week
afterward, Jackson finished the great campaign of the Valley, by
defeating Generals Fremont and Shields at Port Republic.
Such had been the important services performed by the famous
"Stonewall Jackson," who was to become the "right arm" of Lee in the
greater campaigns of the future. Retreating, after the defeat of
General Banks, and passing through Strasburg, just as Fremont from the
west, and the twenty thousand men of General McDowell from the east,
rushed to intercept him, Jackson had sullenly fallen back up the
Valley, with all his captured stores and prisoners, and at Cross
Keys and Port Republic had achieved a complete victory over his two
adversaries. Fremont was checked by Ewell, who then hastened across to
take part in the attack on Shields. The result was a Federal defeat
and retreat down the Valley. Jackson was free to move in any
direction; and his army could unite with that at Richmond for a
decisive attack upon General McClellan.
The attack in question had speedily been resolved on by Lee. Any
further advance of the Federal army would bring it up to the very
earthworks in the suburbs of the city; and, unless the Confederate
authorities proposed to undergo a siege, it was necessary to check the
further advance of the enemy by a general attack.
How to attack to the best advantage was now the question. The position
of General McClellan's army has been briefly stated. Advancing up the
Peninsula, he had reached and passed the Chickahominy, and was in
sight of Richmond. To this stream, the natural line of defence of the
city on the north and east, numerous roads diverged from the capital,
including the York River Railroad, of which the Federal commander made
such excellent use; and General McClellan had thrown his left wing
across the stream, advancing to a point on the railroad four or five
miles from the city. Here he had erected heavy defences to protect
that wing until the right wing crossed in turn. The tangled thickets
of the White-oak Swamp, on his left flank, were a natural defence; but
he had added to these obstacles, as we have stated, by felling trees,
and guarding every approach by redoubts. In these, heavy artillery
kept watch against an approaching enemy; and any attempt to attack
from that quarter seemed certain to result in repulse. In front,
toward Seven Pines, the chance of success was equally doubtful. The
excellent works of the Federal commander bristled with artillery, and
were heavily manned. It seemed thus absolutely necessary to discover
some other point of assault; and, as the Federal right beyond the
Chickahominy was the only point left, it was determined to attack, if
possible, in that quarter.
An important question was first, however, to be decided, the character
of the defences, if any, on General McClellan's right, in the
direction of Old Church and Cold Harbor. A reconnoissance in force was
necessary to acquire this information, and General Lee accordingly
directed General Stuart, commanding the cavalry of the army, to
proceed with a portion of his command to the vicinity of Old Church,
in the Federal rear, and gain all the information possible of their
position and defences.
V.
STUART'S "RIDE AROUND McCLELLAN."
General James E.B. Stuart, who now made his first prominent appearance
upon the theatre of the war, was a Virginian by birth, and not yet
thirty years of age. Resigning his commission of lieutenant in the
United States Cavalry at the beginning of the war, he had joined
Johnston in the Valley, and impressed that officer with a high opinion
of his abilities as a cavalry officer; proceeded thence to Manassas,
where he charged and broke a company of "Zouave" infantry; protected
the rear of the army when Johnston retired to the Rappahannock, and
bore an active part in the conflict on the Peninsula. In person he was
of medium height; his frame was broad and powerful; he wore a heavy
brown beard flowing upon his breast, a huge mustache of the same
color, the ends curling upward; and the blue eyes, flashing beneath a
"piled-up" forehead, had at times the dazzling brilliancy attributed
to the eyes of the eagle. Fond of movement, adventure, bright colors,
and all the pomp and pageantry of war, Stuart had entered on the
struggle with ardor, and enjoyed it as the huntsman enjoys the chase.
Young, ardent, ambitious, as brave as steel, ready with jest or
laughter, with his banjo-player following him, going into the hottest
battles humming a song, this young Virginian was, in truth, an
original character, and impressed powerfully all who approached him.
One who knew him well wrote: "Every thing striking, brilliant, and
picturesque, seemed to centre in him. The war seemed to be to Stuart a
splendid and exciting game, in which his blood coursed joyously, and
his immensely strong physical organization found an arena for the
display of all its faculties. The affluent life of the man craved
those perils and hardships which flush the pulses and make the heart
beat fast. He swung himself into the saddle at the sound of the bugle
as the hunter springs on horseback; and at such moments his cheeks
glowed and his huge mustache curled with enjoyment. The romance and
poetry of the hard trade of arms seemed first to be inaugurated when
this joyous cavalier, with his floating plume and splendid laughter,
appeared upon the great arena of the war in Virginia." Precise people
shook their heads, and called him frivolous, undervaluing his great
ability. Those best capable of judging him were of a different
opinion. Johnston wrote to him from the west: "How can I eat or sleep
in peace without _you_ upon the outpost?" Jackson said, when he fell
at Chancellorsville: "Go back to General Stuart, and tell him to act
upon his own judgment, and do what he thinks best, I have implicit
confidence in him." Lee said, when he was killed at Yellow Tavern:
"I can scarcely think of him without weeping." And the brave General
Sedgwick, of the United States Army, said: "Stuart is the best cavalry
officer ever _foaled_ in North America!"
In the summer of 1862, when we present him to the reader, Stuart had
as yet achieved little fame in his profession, but he was burning to
distinguish himself. He responded ardently, therefore, to the order of
Lee, and was soon ready with a picked force of about fifteen hundred
cavalry, under some of his best officers. Among them were Colonels
William H.F. Lee and Fitz-Hugh Lee--the first a son of General Lee, a
graduate of West Point, and an officer of distinction afterward;
the second, a son of Smith Lee, brother of the general, and famous
subsequently in the most brilliant scenes of the war as the gay and
gallant "General Fitz Lee," of the cavalry. With his picked force,
officered by the two Lees, and other excellent lieutenants, Stuart set
out on his adventurous expedition to Old Church. He effected more
than he anticipated, and performed a daring feat of arms in addition.
Driving the outposts from Hanover Court-House, he charged and broke a
force of Federal cavalry near Old Church; pushed on to the York River
Railroad, which he crossed, burning or capturing all Federal stores
met with, including enormous wagon-camps; and then, finding the
way back barred against him, and the Federal army on the alert, he
continued his march with rapidity, passed entirely around General
McClellan's army, and, building a bridge over the Chickahominy,
safely reentered the Confederate lines just as a large force made its
appearance in his rear. The temporary bridge was destroyed, however,
and Stuart hastened to report to his superiors. His information was
important. General McClellan's right and rear were unprotected by
works of any strength. If the Confederate general desired to attack in
that quarter, there was nothing to prevent.
The results of Stuart's famous "ride around McClellan," as the people
called it, determined General Lee to make the attack on the north bank
of the stream, if he had not already so decided. It was necessary now
to bring Jackson's forces from the Valley without delay, and almost
equally important to mask the movement from General McClellan. To this
end a very simple _ruse_ was adopted. On the 11th of June, Whiting's
division was embarked on the cars of the Danville Railroad at
Richmond, and moved across the river to a point near Belle Isle, where
at that moment a considerable number of Federal prisoners were about
to be released and sent down James River. Here the train, loaded with
Confederate troops, remained for some time, and _the secret_ was
discovered by the released prisoners. General Lee was reenforcing
Jackson, in order that the latter might march on Washington. Such was
the report carried to General McClellan, and it seems to have really
deceived him. [Footnote: "I have no doubt Jackson has been reenforced
from here."--_General McClellan to President Lincoln, June 20th_.]
Whiting's division reached Lynchburg, and was thence moved by railway
to Charlottesville--Jackson marched and countermarched with an
elaborate pretence of advancing down the Valley--at last, one morning,
the astute Confederate, who kept his own counsels, had disappeared; he
was marching rapidly to join Lee on the Chickahominy. Not even his own
soldiers knew what direction they were taking. They were forbidden
by general order to inquire even the names of the towns they passed
through; directed to reply "I don't know" to every question; and it
is said that when Jackson demanded the name and regiment of a soldier
robbing a cherry-tree, he could extract from the man no reply but "I
don't know."
Jackson advanced with rapidity, and, on the 25th of June, was near
Ashland. Here he left his forces, and rode on rapidly to Richmond.
Passing unrecognized through the streets, after night, he went on
to General Lee's headquarters, at a house on the "Nine-mile road,"
leading from the New Bridge road toward Fair Oaks Station; and here
took place the first interview, since the commencement of the war,
between Lee and Jackson.
What each thought of the other will be shown in the course of this
narrative. We shall proceed now with the history of the great series
of battles for which Jackson's appearance was the signal.
PART III.
_ON THE CHICKAHOMINY_.
I.
THE TWO ARMIES.
The Chickahominy, whose banks were now to be the scene of a bitter and
determined conflict between the great adversaries, is a sluggish and
winding stream, which, rising above Richmond, describes a curve around
it, and empties its waters into the James, far below the city. Its
banks are swampy, and thickly clothed with forest or underwood. From
the nature of these banks, which scarcely rise in many places above
the level of the water, the least freshet produces an overflow, and
the stream, generally narrow and insignificant, becomes a sort of
lake, covering the low grounds to the bases of the wooded bluffs
extending upon each side. Numerous bridges cross the stream, from
Bottom's Bridge, below the York River Railroad, to Meadow Bridge,
north of the city. Of these, the Mechanicsville Bridge, about four
miles from the city, and the New Bridge, about nine miles, were points
of the greatest importance.
General McClellan's position has been repeatedly referred to. He had
crossed a portion of his army east of Richmond, and advanced to within
four or five miles of the city. The remainder, meanwhile, lay on the
north bank of the stream, and swept round, in a sort of crescent, to
the vicinity of Mechanicsville, where it had been anticipated General
McDowell would unite with it, thereby covering its right flank, and
protecting the communications with the Federal base at the White
House. That this disposition of the Federal troops was faulty, in face
of adversaries like Johnston and Lee, there could be no doubt. But
General McClellan was the victim, it seems, of the shifting and
vacillating policy of the authorities at Washington. With the arrival
of the forty thousand men under McDowell, his position would have been
a safe one. General McDowell did not arrive; and this unprotected
right flank--left unprotected from the fact that McDowell's presence
was counted on--became the point of the Confederate attack.
The amount of blame, if any, justly attributable to General McClellan,
first for his inactivity, and then for his defeat by Lee, cannot be
referred to here, save in a few brief sentences. A sort of feud
seems to have arisen between himself and General Halleck, the
commander-in-chief, stationed at Washington; and General Halleck then
and afterward appears to have regarded McClellan as a soldier without
decision or broad generalship. And yet McClellan does not seem to
have merited the censure he received. He called persistently for
reinforcements, remaining inactive meanwhile, because he estimated
the Confederate army before him at two hundred thousand men, and
was unwilling to assail this force, under command of soldiers
like Johnston and Lee, until his own force seemed adequate to the
undertaking. Another consideration was, the Confederate position in
front of the powerful earthworks of the city. These works would double
the Confederate strength in case of battle in front of them; and,
believing himself already outnumbered, the Federal commander was
naturally loath to deliver battle until reenforced. The faulty
disposition of his army, divided by a stream crossed by few bridges,
has been accounted for in like manner--he so disposed the troops,
expecting reenforcements. But Jackson's energy delayed these.
Washington was in danger, it was supposed, and General McDowell did
not come. It thus happened that General McClellan awaited attack
instead of making it, and that his army was so posted as to expose him
to the greatest peril.
A last point is to be noted in vindication of this able soldier.
Finding, at the very last moment, that he could expect no further
assistance from the President or General Halleck, he resolved promptly
to withdraw his exposed right wing and change his base of operations
to James River, where at least his communications would be safe. This,
it seems, had been determined upon just before the Confederate attack;
or, if he had not then decided, General McClellan soon determined upon
that plan.
To pass now to the Confederate side, where all was ready for the
great movement. General Lee's army lay in front of Richmond, exactly
corresponding with the front of General McClellan. The divisions of
Magruder and Huger, supported by those of Longstreet and D.H. Hill,
were opposite McClellan's left, on the Williamsburg and York River
roads, directly east of the city. From Magruder's left, extended the
division of General A.P. Hill, reaching thence up the river toward
Mechanicsville; and a brigade, under General Branch lay on Hill's left
near the point where the Brook Turnpike crosses the Chickahominy north
of Richmond. The approaches from the east, northeast, and north, were
thus carefully guarded. As the Confederates held the interior line,
the whole force could be rapidly concentrated, and was thoroughly in
hand, both for offensive or defensive movements.
The army thus held in Lee's grasp, and about to assail its great
Federal adversary, was composed of the best portion of the Southern
population. The rank and file was largely made up of men of education
and high social position. And this resulted from the character of the
struggle. The war was a war of invasion on the part of the North;
and the ardent and high-spirited youth of the entire South threw
themselves into it with enthusiasm. The heirs of ancient families and
great wealth served as privates. Personal pride, love of country,
indignation at the thought that a hostile section had sent an army to
reduce them to submission, combined to draw into the Confederate ranks
the flower of the Southern youth, and all the best fighting material.
Deficient in discipline, and "hard to manage," this force was yet of
the most efficient character. It could be counted on for hard work,
and especially for offensive operations. And the officers placed over
it shared its character.
Among these, General A.P. Hill, a Virginian by birth, was soon to be
conspicuous as commander of the "Light Division," and representative
of the spirit and dash and enthusiasm of the army. Under forty years
of age, with a slender figure, a heavily-bearded face, dark eyes, a
composed and unassuming bearing, characterized when off duty by a
quiet cordiality, he was personally popular with all who approached
him, and greatly beloved, both as man and commander. His chief merit
as a soldier was his dash and impetus in the charge. A braver heart
never beat in human breast; throughout the war he retained the respect
and admiration of the army and the country; and a strange fact in
relation to this eminent soldier is, that his name was uttered by both
Jackson and Lee as they expired.
Associated with him in the battles of the Chickahominy, and to the
end, was the able and resolute Longstreet--an officer of low and
powerful stature, with a heavy, brown beard reaching to his breast,
a manner marked by unalterable composure, and a countenance whose
expression of phlegmatic tranquillity never varied in the hottest
hours of battle. Longstreet was as famous for his bull-dog obstinacy,
as Hill for his dash and enthusiasm. General Lee styled him his "old
war-horse," and depended upon him, as will be seen, in some of the
most critical operations of the war.
Of the young and ardent Virginian, General Magruder, the brave
and resolute North-Carolinian, D.H. Hill, and other officers who
subsequently acquired great reputations in the army, we have no space
at present to speak. All were to cooeperate in the assault on General
McClellan, and do their part.
On the night of the 25th of June, all was ready for the important
movement, and the troops rested on their arms, ready for the coming
battle.
II.
LEE'S PLAN OF ASSAULT.
General Lee had been hitherto regarded as a soldier of too great
caution, but his plan for the assault on General McClellan indicated
the possession of a nerve approaching audacity.
Fully comprehending his enemy's strength and position, and aware that
a large portion of the Federal army had crossed the Chickahominy, and
was directly in his front, he had resolved to pass to the north
bank of the stream with the bulk of his force, leaving only about
twenty-five thousand men to protect the city, and deliver battle where
defeat would prove ruinous. This plan indicated nothing less than
audacity, as we have already said; but, like the audacity of the flank
movement at Chancellorsville afterward, and the daring march, in
disregard of General Hooker, to Pennsylvania in 1864, it was founded
on profound military insight, and indicated the qualities of a great
soldier.
Lee's design was to attack the Federal right wing with a part of his
force, while Jackson, advancing still farther to the left, came in on
their communications with the White House, and assailed them on their
right and rear. Meanwhile Richmond was to be protected by General
Magruder with his twenty-five thousand men, on the south bank; if
McClellan fell back down the Peninsula, this force was to cross and
unite with the rest; thus the Federal army would be driven from all
its positions, and the fate of the whole campaign against Richmond
would be decided.
Lee's general order directing the movement of the troops is here
given. It possesses interest as a clear and detailed statement of his
intended operations; and it will be seen that what was resolved on by
the commander in his tent, his able subordinates translated detail by
detail, with unimportant modifications, into action, under his eyes in
the field: