Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 2.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

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[146] still existed; the vicinity of the right bank would always have rendered it difficult to provision Malvern Hill. The generalin-chief, therefore, adhered to the order issued before the battle, directing the evacuation of this position during the night of the 1st and 2d of July. The place he had designated as the quarters for the army near his new base was Harrison's Landing, formerly the property of President Harrison, situated twelve kilometres lower down in a direct line. Whilst the convoy, which had resumed its march since the evening of the 30th, was approaching the Harrison plantation by roads which, at times, had to be cleared with the axe, and was fast covering all the spaces surrounding the improvised wharves along the river, the greater part of the army was slowly falling back by way of Haxall's. Porter, who was the last to leave, covering its march with a regiment of cavalry and the brigade of regulars, only reached this point on the morning of the 2d. At Haxall's he passed Peck's division, which, after having prepared the road to Harrison, formed the rear-guard of the whole army, under the chief command of General Keyes, who had several regiments of cavalry to protect this march. The heat of the preceding days had been followed by torrents of rain; and if it proved an obstacle to the pursuit which the Confederates might have wished to attempt, it also impeded the movement of the wagons. Nevertheless, they continued their course over two roads without any difficulty, before the enemy was able to disturb them; and when he finally made his appearance, he no longer found anything to pick up on the track of the Federals. He did not venture to attack them, while Stuart, who had followed Keyes with several batteries of horse artillery, contented himself with sending after him a few harmless cannon-shots.

The army of the Potomac was to find at Harrison's Landing the repose it absolutely needed. The retreat from Malvern Hill was effected without any trouble; but precisely, perhaps, because they were no longer stimulated by the presence of the enemy, the soldiers gave way more rapidly to physical exhaustion than before. This last night march, following so many other fatigues, transcended the powers of endurance of most of them; when the columns, more and more stretched out and reduced, reached the