THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.

171

VIEW FROM UNION MORTAR BATTERY NO. 4, LOOKING TOWARD YORKTOWN.—GLOUCESTER POINT ON THE RIGHT.

FROM A SKETCH MADE APRIL 16, 1862.

have become efficient. The new regiments required much time to becomeuseful, and endured very heavy and unnecessary losses from disease and inbattle owing to the inexperience of the officers and men. A course more inaccordance with the best-established military principles and the uniformexperience of war would have saved the country millions of treasure andthousands of valuable lives.

Then, on the 5th of April, I found myself with 58,000 men in hand, givingless than 42,000 for battle, after deducting extra-duty men and other non-combatants. In our front was an intrenched line, apparently too strong forassault, and which I had now no means of turning, either by land or water.I now learned that 85,000 would be the maximum force at my disposal, givingonly some 67,000 for battle. Of the three divisions yet to join, Casey’s reachedthe front only on the 17th, Richardson’s on the 16th, and Hooker’s commencedarriving at Ship Point on the 10th. Whatever may have been said afterward,no one at the time — so far as my knowledge extended — thought an assaultpracticable without certain preliminary siege operations. At all events, mypersonal experience in this kind of work was greater than that of any officerunder my command; and after personal reconnoissances more appropriate toa lieutenant of engineers than to the commanding general, I could neitherdiscover nor hear of any point where an assault promised any chance of suc-cess. We were thus obliged to resort to siege operations in order to silencethe enemy’s artillery fire, and open the way to an assault. All the batterieswould have been ready to open fire on the 5th, or, at latest, on the morningof the 6th of May, and it was determined to assault at various points themoment the heavy batteries had performed their allotted task; the navy wasprepared to participate in the attack as soon as the main batteries were