THE SEl/EN DAYS" INCLUDING FRAYSER’S FARM.

405

plans in the Seven Days’ Fight were excellent, but were poorly executed.General McClellan was a very accomplished soldier and a very able engineer,but hardly equal to the position of field-marshal as a military chieftain. Heorganized the Army of the Potomac cleverly, but did not handle it skillfullywhen in actual battle. Still I doubt if his retreat could have been bet-ter handled, though the rear of his army should have been more positivelyeither in his own hands or in the hands of Sumner. Heintzelman crossed theWhite Oak Swamp prematurely and left the rear of McClellan ’s army exposed,which would have been fatal had Jackson come up and taken part in Magru-der’s affair of the 29th near Savage’s Station.

I cannot close this sketch without referring to the Confederate commanderwhen he came upon the scene for the first time. General Lee was an unusu-ally handsome man , even in his advanced life. He seemed fresh from WestPoint, so trim was his figure and so elastic his step. Out of battle he was asgentle as a woman, but when the clash of arms came he loved fight, and urgedhis battle with wonderful determination. As a usual thing he was remarkablywell-balanced—always so, except on one or two occasions of severe trial whenhe failed to maintain his exact equipoise. Lee ’s orders were always well con-sidered and well chosen. He depended almost too much on his officers for theirexecution. Jackson was a very skillful man against such men as Shields,Banks , and Fremont, but when pitted against the best of the Federal com-manders he did not appear so well. Without doubt the greatest man ofrebellion times, the one matchless among forty millions for the peculiar diffi-culties of the period, was Abraham Lincoln .

NELSON’S HOUSE. WILLIS CHURCH. PENNSYLVANIA RESERVES.

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GENERAL HEINTZELMAN’S HEADQUARTERS AT NELSON’S HOUSE, JUNE 30, DURING THE BATTLE OF GLENDALE.

FROM A SKETCH MADE AT THE TIME.