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and assisted by the fire of the gunboats in
James River, guarded this part of the line.
Magruder, who had reached the
Darbytown road, was ordered to reinforce
Holmes; but being at a greater distance than had been supposed, he did not reach the position of the latter in time for an attack.
Huger reported that his progress was obstructed; but about four P. M., firing was heard in the direction of the
Charles City road, which was supposed to indicate his approach.
Longstreet immediately opened with one of his batteries to give notice of his presence.
This brought on the engagement; but
Huger not coming up, and
Jackson having been unable to force the passage of
White Oak Swamp,
Longstreet and
Hill were without the expected support.
The superiority of numbers and advantage of position were on the side of the enemy.
The battle raged furiously until nine P. M.; by that time the enemy had been driven with great slaughter from every position but one, which he maintained until he was enabled to withdraw under cover of darkness.
At the close of the struggle, nearly the entire field remained in our possession, covered with the enemy's dead and wounded.
Many prisoners, including a general of division, were captured, and several batteries, with some thousands of small-arms taken.
Could the other commands have cooperated in the action, the result would have proved most disastrous to the enemy.
After the engagement,
Magruder was recalled to relieve the troops of
Longstreet and
Hill.
His men, much fatigued by their long, hot march, arrived during the night.
Battle of Malvern Hill.
Early on the first of July,
Jackson reached the battle-field of the previous day, having succeeded in crossing
White Oak Swamp, where he captured a part of the enemy's artillery and a number of prisoners.
He was directed to continue the pursuit down the Willis Church road, and soon found the enemy occupying a high range, extending obliquely across the road in front of
Malvern Hill.
On this position of great natural strength he had concentrated his powerful artillery, supported by masses of infantry, partially protected by earth-works.
His left rested near Crew's house, and his right near
Binford's. Immediately in his front the ground was open, varying in width from a quarter to half a mile, and sloping gradually from the crest, was completely swept by the fire of his infantry and artillery.
To reach this open ground, our troops had to advance through a broken and thickly wooded country, traversed nearly through its whole extent by a swamp passable at but few places, and difficult at those.
The whole was within range of the batteries on the heights and the gunboats in the river, under whose incessant fire our movements had to be executed.
Jackson formed his line with
Whiting's division on his left, and
D. H. Hill's on his right, one of
Ewell's brigades occupying the interval.
The rest of
Ewell's and
Jackson's own division were held in reserve.
Magruder was directed to take position on
Jackson's right; but before his arrival, two of
Huger's brigades came up and were placed next to
Hill.
Magruder subsequently formed on the right of these brigades, which, with a third of
Huger's, were placed under his command.
Longstreet and
A. P. Hill were held in reserve, and took no part in the engagement.
Owing to ignorance of the country, the dense forests impeding necessary communications, and the extreme difficulty of the ground, the whole line was not formed until a late hour in the afternoon.
The obstacles presented by the woods and swamp made it impracticable to bring up a sufficient amount of artillery to oppose successfully the extraordinary force of that arm employed by the enemy, while the field itself afforded us few positions favorable for its use, and none for its proper concentration.
Orders were issued for a general advance at a given signal; but the causes referred to prevented a proper concert of action among the troops.
D. H. Hill pressed forward across the open field, and engaged the enemy gallantly, breaking and driving back his first line; but a simultaneous advance of the other troops not taking place, he found himself unable to maintain the ground he had gained against the overwhelming numbers and numerous batteries of the enemy.
Jackson sent to his support his own division and that part of
Ewell's which was in reserve, but owing to the increasing darkness and intricacy of the forest of swamp, they did not arrive in time to render the desired assistance.
Hill was therefore compelled to abandon part of the ground he had gained, after suffering severe loss, and inflicting heavy damage upon the enemy.
On the right, the attack was gallantly made by
Huger's and
Magruder's commands.
Two brigades of the former commenced the action, the other two were subsequently sent to the support of
Magruder and
Hill.
Several determined efforts were made to storm the hill at Crew's house.
The brigades advanced bravely across the open field raked by the fire of a hundred cannon and the musketry of large bodies of infantry.
Some were broken and gave way; others approached close to the guns, driving back the infantry, compelling the advanced batteries to retire to escape capture, and mingling their dead with those of the enemy.
For want of concert among the attacking columns, their assaults were too weak to break the
Federal line, and, after struggling gallantly, sustaining and inflicting great loss, they were compelled successively to retire.
Night was approaching when the attack began, and it soon became difficult to distinguish friend from foe. The firing continued until after nine P. M., but no decided result was gained.
Part of the troops were withdrawn to their original positions, others remained on the open field, and some rested within a hundred yards of the batteries they had so bravely but vainly assailed.
The general conduct of the troops was excellent; in some instances heroic.
The lateness of the hour at which the attack necessarily began, gave the enemy the full advantage of his superior position,
