May 3, 1863. |
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| Tail-piece — a Parrott projectile. |
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every skill and strategy of modern warfare to accomplish their object.
Finally, on the day when Hooker and Lee had their severe battle at Chaneellorsville,
Longstreet, foiled and disheartened, turned his back on Peck and retreated, pursued as far as the Blackwater by National troops under Generals Corcoran and Dodge, and Colonel Foster.
Thus ended the remarkable siege of Suffolk, “which had for its object the recovery of the whole country south of the James River, extending, to Albemarle Sound, in North Carolina; the ports of Norfolk and Portsmouth; eighty miles of new railroad iron; the equipment of two roads, and the capture of all the United States forces and property, with some thousands of contrabands.”
1
The importance of the services of “the Army of Suffolk,” as its commanding officer styled it, seems not to have had due consideration hitherto.
As an act of war, the holding of that position by the garrison against more than double its own number of assailants led by one of the best of the Confederate officers, entitles the commanding general and his troops to the highest praise, and which he received from those most competent to judge.2 But when we consider the grand object of the Confederates and the price at stake, and the fact that the holding of Longstreet south of the James, so that he could not re-enforce Lee, probably saved the Army of the Potomac, then one hundred and twenty-five thousand strong, from far greater disaster — possibly annihilation — at Chancellorsville, the value of the services of the gallant Peck and his brave soldiers may be appreciated, and should be fully recognized by the historian and the student.
1 General J. J. Peck's Report, May 5, 1863.
2 On the 15th of February, 1865, General Meade wrote to General Peck, saying: “That with the united force under your command, you should have held in check and defeated the designs of such superior numbers, is a fact of which you may well be proud, as the most practical proof of your own skill and the gallantry of your troops.”
On the 1st of January, 1865, General Slocum wrote: “I think the gratitude of the nation is due to you and your gallant little army for the important services performed at Suffolk.” On the 30th of January, 1865, General Stoneman wrote: “I have always looked upon it as a most fortunate thing for us that you were enabled to hold Longstreet at Suffolk.” It has been asserted that Longstreet joined Lee at the battle of Chancellorsville. Lee, in his report of that battle, page. 5, says: “General Longstreet, with two divisions of his corps, was detailed for service south <*> James River in February, and did not rejoin the army until after the battle of Chancellorsville.”
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