390
MCCLELLAN’S CHANGE OF BASE AND MALVERN HILL.
capture of Harper’s Ferry . MacGregor on his native heath was not moredifferent from MacGregor in prison than was Jackson his own master fromJackson in a subordinate position. He wrote once to Richmond requesting j
that he might have “ fewer orders and more men.” That was the keynote j
to his whole character. The hooded falcon cannot strike the quarry. j
The gentleman who tried his “splendid rifle” on the drunken Irishman wasthe Rev. L. W. Allen. Mr. Allen had been raised in that neighborhood, andknew Malvern Hill well. He spoke of its commanding height, the difficultiesof approach to it, its amphitheatrical form and ample area, which would !enable McClellan to arrange his 350 field-guns tier above tier and sweepthe plain in every direction. I became satisfied that an attack upon theconcentrated Federal army so splendidly posted, and with such vastsuperiority in artillery, could only be fatal to us. The anxious thoughtthen was, Have Holmes and Magruder been able to keep McClellan fromMalvern Hill! G-eneral Holmes arrived at Malvern at 10:30 a. m. on the j30th, with 5170 infantry, 4 batteries of artillery, and 130 improvised or j
irregular cavalry. He did not attempt to occupy the hill, although only j
1500 Federals had yet reached it. Our cavalry had passed over it on theafternoon of the 29th, and had had a sharp skirmish with the Federal cav-alry on the Quaker road.
As G-eneral Holmes marched down the river, his troops became visible tothe gun-boats, which opened fire upon them, throwing those awe-inspiringshells familiarly called by our men “lamp-posts,” on account of their size andappearance. Their explosion was very much like that of a small volcano, andhad a very demoralizing effect upon new troops, one of whom expressed thegeneral sentiment by saying: “ The Yankees throwed them lamp-posts abouttoo careless like.” The roaring, howling gun-boat shells were usually harmlessto flesh, blood, and bones, but they had a wonderful effect upon the nervoussystem. General Junius Daniel, a most gallant and accomplished officer, whohad a brigade under General Holmes, gave me an incident connected with theaffair on the 30th, known as the “ Battle of Malvern Cliff.” General Holmes, |
who was very deaf, had gone into a little house concealed from the boats by ;
some intervening woods, and was engaged in some business when the bellow- jing of the “ lamp-posts ” began. The irregular cavalry stampeded and madea brilliant charge to the rear. The artillerists of two guns of Graham’s Peters-burg battery were also panic-struck, and cutting their horses loose mountedthem, and, with dangling traces, tried to catch up with the fleet-footed cava-liers. The infantry troops were inexperienced in the wicked ways of war,having never been under fire before. The fright of the fleeing cavalry wouldhave pervaded their ranks also with the same mischievous result but for thestrenuous efforts of their officers, part of whom were veterans. Some of theraw levies crouched behind little saplings to get protection from the shrieking,blustering shells. At this juncture General Holmes, who from his deafness,was totally unaware of the rumpus, came out of the hut, put his hand behindhis right ear, and said: “I thought I heard firing.” Some of the pale-facedinfantry thought that they also had heard firing.