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Chapter 15: the Army of the Potomac on the Virginia Peninsula.
- The Confederates evacuate Yorktown, 377.
-- pursuit of the fugitives
-- Confederate works at Williamsburg, 378.
-- Hooker's advance upon them, 379.
-- battle near Williamsburg
-- Hooker bears the Brunt, 380.
-- Kearney's troops on the field, 381.
-- Hancock's flank movement, 382.
-- close of the battle of Williamsburg
-- composition of the National Army there, 383.
-- McClellan urged to the front
-- the fruits of victory lost by delay, 384.
-- expedition up the York River
-- National troops on the Pamunkey
-- a sharp fight, 385.
-- head
-- quarters near the “White House”
-- a trick to save that building, 386.
-- preparations to attack Norfolk
-- vigilance of General Wool, 387.
-- he leads troops against Norfolk
-- surrender of the City, 388.
-- events in the Shenandoah Valley, 389.
-- battle at McDowell, 390.
-- Kenly attacked at front Royal, 391.
-- Banks's retreat toward the Potomac
-- difficulties in the way, 392.
-- battle at Winchester, 393.
-- Banks's retreat to the Potomac
-- Jackson hastens up the Shenandoah Valley, 394.
-- an exciting race in that Valley
-- Jackson and Ewell hard pressed, 395.
-- battle of Cross Keys, 396.
-- map of operations in Upper Virginia, 398.
-- battle of Port Republic and escape of Jackson's Army, 399.
-- a visit to the Shenandoah region
-- Weyer's Cave, 400.
-- passage of the Blue Ridge, 401.
General McCLELLAN'S batteries would all have been ready to open on the
Confederate works on the morning of the 6th of May;
but there was then no occasion for their use, for those works were abandoned.
So early as the 30th of April,
Jefferson Davis and two of his so-called cabinet, and
Generals Johnston,
Lee, and
Magruder, held a council at the
Nelson House,
1 where, after exciting debates, it was determined to evacuate
Yorktown and its dependencies.
A wholesome fear of the heavy guns of the Nationals, whose missiles had already given a foretaste of their terrible power, and also an expectation that the
National gun-boats would speedily ascend the two rivers flanking the Confederate Army, caused this prudent resolution.
The
Merrimack had been ordered to
Yorktown, but it had so great a dread of the watchful little
Monitor that it remained at
Norfolk.
Already some war-vessels, and a fleet of transports with
Franklin's troops, as we have observed, were lying securely in Posquotin River, well up toward
Yorktown.
These considerations caused immediate action on the resolutions of the council.
The sick, hospital stores, ammunition, and camp equipage were speedily sent to
Richmond, and on the night of the 3d of May, the
Confederate garrisons at
Yorktown and
Gloucester, and the troops along the line of the
Warwick, fled toward
Williamsburg.
Early the next morning
General McClellan telegraphed to the
Secretary of War that he was in possession of the abandoned
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post, and added: “No time shall be lost.
I shall push the enemy to the wall.”
2
At that hour a vigorous pursuit of the fugitives had begun by the cavalry and horse-artillery under
General Stoneman, followed along the
Yorktown road by the divisions of
Generals Joseph Hooker and
Philip Kearney, and on the Winn's Mill road, which joins the former within two miles of
Williamsburg, by the divisions of
Generals W. F. Smith,
Darius N. Couch, and
Silas Casey.
Those of
Generals Israel B. Richardson,
John Sedgwick, and
Fitz-John Porter, were moved to the vicinity of
Yorktown, to be ready to go forward as a supporting force, if required, or to follow
Franklin's division, which was to be sent up the
York River to
West Point, to co-operate with the pursuing force on the flank of the fugitives, and to seize that terminus of the Richmond and York River railway.
General Heintzelman was at first charged with the direction of the pursuit, but the
General-in-Chief changed his mind, and directed
General Edwin V. Sumner, his second in command, to go forward and conduct the operations of the pursuers.
McClellan remained at
Yorktown, to make arrangements for the dispatch of
Franklin up the
York.
The Confederates had, some months before, constructed a line of strong works, thirteen in number, across the gently rolling plateau on which
Williamsburg stands.
These were two miles in front of that city at the narrowest part of the
Peninsula the right resting on a deep ravine near the
James River, and the left on
Queen's Creek, near the
York River.
The principal work was Fort
Magruder, close by the junction of the
Yorktown and Winn's Mill roads. It was an earth-work with bastion front, its crest measuring nearly half a mile, surrounded by a wet ditch, and heavily armed.
The others were redoubts, similar to those cast up around
Washington City.
At these works the retreating Confederates left a strong rear-guard to check the pursuers, while the main body should have time to place the
Chickahominy River between it and the advancing
Nationals.
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When
Stoneman approached these lines he was met by Confederate cavalry, and these, with the guns of Fort Magruder and its immediate supporters, caused him to halt, fall back about four miles, and wait for the infantry.
Hearing of this repulse,
Hooker, who was not far in the rear of a brick church on the
Yorktown road, was impatient to move forward, but the way was blocked by
Smith's division.
Therefore he sought and obtained leave of
