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Burnside, of the Ninth corps under Reno and First corps under Hooker.
His centre under Sumner consisted of the Twelfth corps, Mansfield, and Second corps, Sumner.
His left wing was constituted of Sixth corps, Franklin and Couch's division of the Fourth corps, Sykes's division followed in the main the march of the centre.
The right wing and centre numbered about 30,000 men each and the left wing about 20,000.
Sykes's division consisted of 6,000 men and the cavalry under Pleasonton of 4,500.
The authorities at Washington were in such panic that they would not permit McClellan to move out until he had left 72,000 behind him to defend the capital.
During the ensuing fourteen days Halleck was constantly telegraphing McClellan that he must be careful lest Lee should evade him and pounce down on the defenceless city.
Therefore when McClellan moved north of Washington he kept his left along the north bank of the Potomac.
And his right extended toward the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, so as to cover the approaches to both Baltimore and Washington.
Lee's army was divided into two corps, the First under Longstreet, with the divisions of R. H. Anderson, Hood, McLaws, and J. G. Walker, and the Second under Jackson, of the divisions of Jackson, Ewell, A. P. Hill and D. H. Hill.
Longstreet's First corps consisted of 15,855 men, Jackson's Second corps of 11,400, with him also was the cavalry division of J. E. B. Stuart, comprising the brigades of Fitz. Lee, Hampton, and Robertson, the latter under Munford, the whole probably, for there are no reports of the cavalry, numbering as many as 4,500, his artillery is estimated at 3,000 effective men. I follow Colonel Taylor's laborious and exact statement as to Lee's numbers, and General McClellan's as to his own.
On September 4th, Lee's army was concentrated about Leesburg.
McClellan had moved his Second, Ninth and Twelfth corps, and Couch's division to the north side of the Potomac and north of Washington on the Seventh-Street road, and to Tenalltown.
The cavalry, under Pleasanton, was pushed along the river to watch the fords in the neighborhood of Poolesville.
On the afternoon of September 4th, D. H. Hill sent Anderson's brigade to fire on the Federal trains across the Potomac at Berlin, and with two other brigades drove away the Federal cavalry pickets near the mouth of Monocacy, and crossed at White's Ford.
During the night of the
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Richmond, VA. 1884.
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