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Battle of Williamsburg.
It may be well imagined that
McClellan, sorely disappointed, and knowing very well that the people of the
North, who were already clamouring for a change of commanders, would not be satisfied with the barren occupation of the deserted works of
Yorktown, was anxious to snatch some sort of victory from the rear-guard of the
Confederate retreat, which he might magnify in official dispatches and Northern newspapers.
01 the morning of the 5th May,
Gen. Hooker's division of
Heintzelman's corps came up near
Williamsburg with the
Confederate rear-guard, commanded by
Gen. Longstreet.
The Federals were in a forest in front of
Williamsburg; but as
Hooker came into the open ground, he was vigorously attacked, driven back with the loss of five guns, and with difficulty held the belt of wood which sheltered and concealed his men from the
Confederate fire.
Other forces of the enemy were moved up, until
Gen. Longstreet was engaging nine brigades of the
Federal army.
During the whole of the day, from sunrise to sunset, he held
McClellan's army in check, drove the enemy from two redoubts he had occupied, and secured
Johnston's retreat so effectually, that the next morning when the rear guard moved off, it did so as undisturbed as if the enemy were a thousand miles distant.
But
Gen. Longstreet not only accomplished the important object of securing the retreat.
He won a brilliant victory.
Gen. McClellan himself confessed a loss of 455 killed, 1,400 wounded, and 372 missing, making a total of 2,228.
And
Longstreet carried off with him nine pieces of captured artillery.
Yet so anxious was
McClellan for the colour of victory that he dispatched to
Washington news of a success, and represented as the process of “driving rebels to the wall,” the leisurely retreat of
Johnston to works around
Richmond, prepared ten months ago under the prudent and skilful direction of
Gen. Robert E. Lee, and already the amplest and strongest at any point in the
Confederacy.
The fact was that
McClellan's army had received a serious check at
Williamsburg, which, if
Gen. Longstreet had been able to take advantage of it, might have been converted into a disastrous defeat.
McClellan had also planned a flank movement upon
Johnston's retreat.
This performance, too, proved a miserable failure, although the idea did credit to his genius.
The design was that
Franklin should move to
West Point, the head of the
York River, and disembark a large force there to assail
Johnston on the flank.
On the 7th of May,
Franklin attempted a landing under cover of his gunboats, at
Barhamsville near
West Point.
The attempt was gallantly repulsed by
Whiting's division of
Texas troops.
The fight was
