LEE’S ATTACKS NORTH OF THE CHICKAHOMINY.

355

was brought up to feel the position. Jackson remained with it for a timeafter the firing began. The battery was badly crippled, and was withdrawnby my order when I perceived the superiority of the enemy’s artillery—always the most effective arm of his service. So little was known of thecondition of the battle and of the roads, that Jackson posted my division inthe woods to the left of the road, and facing toward the firing at Gaines’sMill, in order to intercept the forces that Longstreet and A. P. Hill mightdrive in that direction! Jackson’s report says:

“ Hoping that Generals A. P. Hill and Longstreet would soon drive the Federals toward me,I directed General D. H. Hill to move his division to the left of the road, so as to leave betweenhim and the wood on the right of the road an open space, across which I hoped that the enemywould be driven. . . . But it soon becoming apparent from the direction and sound of the

firing that General A. P. Hill was hard pressed, I ordered a general advance of my entire corps,which began with General D. H. Hill on the left and extending to the right, through Ewell’s,Jackson’s, and Whiting’s divisions ... in the order named.”

The swamp was to be gotten through, filled with sharp-shooters, andobstructed with felled timber and choked with brushwood. The reportcontinues:

“ In advancing to the attack, General D. H. Hill had to cross this swamp densely coveredwith tangled undergrowth and young timber. This caused some confusion and a separationof regiments. On the farther edge of the swamp he encountered the enemy. The conflict wasfierce and bloody. The Federals fell back from the wood under the protection of a fence, ditch,and hill. Separated now from them by an open field, some four hundred yards wide, hepromptly determined to press forward. Before doing so, however, it was necessary to capturea battery on his left which could enfilade his line upon its advance. . . j Again pressing for-ward, the Federals again fell back, but only to select a position for a more obstinate defense,when at dark, under the pressure of our batteries,— which had then begun to play with markedeffect upon the left,— of the other concurring events of the field, and of the bold and dashingcharge of General Hill’s infantry, in which the troops of Brigadier-General C. S. Winderjoined, the enemy yielded the field and fled in disorder.”

I have always believed that this was the first break in the Federal line; it dis-posed of Sykes’s division of regulars who had been so stubborn and so trou-blesome all day. The Comte de Paris says of their retreat: “ Fearfully reducedas they are, they care less for the losses they have sustained than for the mor-tification of yielding to volunteers.” The general advance of our whole line andtheir intrepid onset everywhere made the defeat of the regulars possible, butcredit should be given to the troops that did it. We discovered that our line

4 The words of Jackson’s report, omitted in thequotation, are as follows :

“ The "battery was captured with severe loss and heldfor a short time — sufficiently long, however, to enablethe division to move on free from its terrific fire, whenit was again retaken by the enemy.”

This refers to the battle around the McGeheehouse, the right of Porter’s line under commandof General George Sykes. The latter gives anaccount of the contest with Hill differing fromthat of the Confederate generals. He says:

“ It was now 5:30 p. m. The enemy still continued topour in fresh troops against 4500 men who had baffledhim at every point since 11 o’clock in the morning. The

excess of strength compelled the 12th and 14th [Regulars]to occupy the crest of a secondary ridge somewhat inrear of the position they had previously won. . . . Pre-vious to this a brigade of volunteers, under Colonel J. J.Bartlett, consisting of the 16 th and 27th New York, 5thMaine, and 96th Pennsylvania volunteers, and Kings-bury’s battery Regular Artillery, joined my command.Under my direction, Colonel Bartlett posted the regi-ments of his brigade with great daring in front of andaround the McGehee house, and firmly maintained him-self until the center of Porter’s army was pierced, thetroops in his front driven in, his left flank exposed,and his position no longer tenable.”

General Bartlett states in his report that hemaintained his ground at the McGehee farm untilafter dark. See also pp. 339, 340. Editors.