WITH THE CAl/ALliY ON THE PENINSULA.
43 >
Two or three weeks before this several officersof the 3d Pennsylvania Cavalry, Newhall, Treichel,W. E. Miller, and others, penetrated the regionbetween the Chickahominy and the James, takingbearings and making notes. Their fragmentarysketches, when put together, made a map whichexhibited all the roadways, fields, forests, bridges,the streams, and houses, so that our commanderknew the country to be traversed through the sevendays far better than any Confederate commander.
On the evening of June 27th, my pickets fromTunstall’s Station and other points were calledin, and at 6:30 A. m., on the 28th, the regimentcrossed White Oak Swamp, leading Keyes’s corps,and advanced to the Charles City road. Lieuten-ant Davis was again sent to communicate with thegun-boats on the James.
At daylight, on the 29th, Captain White’s squad-ron, with 200 infantry and 2 guns, was sent topicket and hold Jones’s Bridge on the Chicka-hominy. About 9 A. M. my scouts reported aregiment of the enemy’s cavalry advancing incolumn about a mile away. Some woodlandintervened. Between this and my position wasan open field a quarter of a mile across. Apicket was quickly posted at the hither edge ofthe wood, with orders to fire upon the enemy whenhe should come within range and then turn andrun away, thus inviting pursuit. On my positiontwo guns were already placed to enfilade the road,and a few squadrons held in readiness to charge.The enemy came, was fired upon, and the picketfled, followed by the enemy in hot pursuit. Uponarriving within two hundred yards of our position,the % picket quitted the road through the gaps inthe fences made for that purpose, thus unmaskingthe enemy’s column ; the two guns of Major Westfired two rounds, and two squadrons, led by Cap-tains Walsh and Russell, of the 3d Pennsylvania ,were let loose upon the enemy, and over 60 of hisofficers and men were left on the ground, whilst thesurvivors fled in great disorder toward Richmond .The command was the 1st North Carolina and 3dVirginia Cavalry, led by Colonel Lawrence Baker,a comrade of mine in the old army. The 3d Penn-sylvania lost 1 man killed and 5 wounded.
After this affair I galloped back to see GeneralMcClellan , and found him near a house southof White Oak Swamp Bridge. Near him weregroups of a hundred officers eagerly but quietlydiscussing our progress and situation. So soon asMcClellan descried me, he came with the Princede Joinville to the fence, where I dismounted.After telling him all I knew and had learned fromprisoners and scouts, I ventured to suggest that theroads were tolerably clear toward Richmond , andthat we might go there. The Prince seemed to ex-hibit a favorable interest in my suggestion, but thegeneral, recognizing its weakness, said promptly:“The roads will be full enough to-morrow”; andthen earnestly, “ Averell, if any army can savethis country, it will be the Army of the Potomac,and it must be saved for that purpose.” The gen-eral rode to the front with me, and reconnoiteredthe ground in all directions. In the afternoon,with Hays’s regiment of infantry and Benson’s
battery, I established our outposts and picketswithin one mile of New Market, where we werefirst touched with some of the enemy’s infantryduring the night. On the 30th, there were battleson our center and right, and having joined theFifth Corps, I proceeded to Malvern Hill in theevening and rode over the field with CaptainColburn, my classmate and the favorite aide ofMcClellan , and made a topographical sketch of theposition, which w T as of some use afterward in post-ing the infantry and artillery as they arrived.
During the night of the 30th, the general com-manding asked me for two officers for hazardousservice. Lieutenants Newhall and Treichel, be-cause of their intimate knowledge of the country,were sent to communicate with our right and cen-ter, and a second time that night made their w'ayfor a mile and a half through the enemy’s camps.
During the battle of July 1st (Malvern Hill), mycavalry was deployed as a close line of skirmisherswith drawn sabers in rear of our lines, with ordersto permit no one to pass to the rear who could notshow blood. The line of battle was ready andreserves of infantry and artillery in position sometime before the enemy came in force and devel-oped his attack. There were some preliminarybursts of artillery, but the great crash of all armsdid not begin before 6 P. M. It lasted about twohours. The commanding general, with his mountedstaff, was standing on the plateau in front ofthe farm-house at the rear verge of the hill, a con-spicuous group, when a round shot from the enemystruck the ground a few yards directly in front ofhim and threw dirt and gravel over the little grouparound him. General Porter, with whom I wasriding, had just started toward the front when heturned and said to McClellan : “ General, every-thing is all right here and you are not needed; ifyou will look after our center and right that wouldhelp us here more than you can by remaining.”Then we separated from them and rode tow 7 ardour left, at Crew’s house. The wounded were al-ready coming away from the lines.
When the battle was over and the field hadbecome quiet, the cavalry bivouacked half a mile inrear of the line of battle. Men and horses weretoo tired to do aught but sleep for hours. At mid-night I found myself in the saddle with a cup ofhot coffee held to my lips, a portion of its contentshaving scalded its way down my throat. Whenawakened I was informed by the Due de Chartresthat General McClellan desired to see me. Wefound him near by, in a little orchard by a camp-fire, giving orders rapidly to his generals and staff-officers. When my turn came, McClellan said:“ Averell, I want you to take command of the rear-guard at daylight in the morning, and hold thisposition until our trains are out of the way. Whatforce do you w T ant ? ” I asked for just enough tocover the front with a strong skirmish line. Theorders were given for Buchanan’s brigade ofSykes’s division, Fifth Corps, to report to me atdaylight, and^lso a battery.
At daylight the cavalry advanced toward thefront. There was a fog so dense that we couldnot see a man at fifty paces distance. Colonel