WITH THE CAVALRY ON THE PENINSULA.

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participation in covering our right wing on the26th, and guiding trains and maintaining steadi-ness of lines on the 27th, guided Keyes’s corps tothe James River helow Malvern, on the 29th, andassisted the 8th Pennsylvania in covering thatcorps on the 30th and 1st of July. The 2d U. S.Cavalry and McClellan Dragoons, under MajorPleasonton, escorted Colonel B. S. Alexander, ofthe Corps of Engineers , on the 29th, to Carter’sLanding, on the James. Captains Norris andGreen, of the 2d, performed scouting service in thedirection of the Chickahominy and Charles CityCourt House, after the arrival of the regiment onthe James. And so ended the first lesson of thecavalry service of the Army of the Potomac .-faNear the White House , on the morning of the29th of June (at the very time that the 3d Penn-sylvania Cavalry was repelling the 1st North Caro-lina and 3d Virginia Cavalry at Willis Church,south of the Chickahominy), Stuart received a notefrom General Lee asking for his impressions inregard to the designs of the Union Army. Hereplied that there was no evidence of a retreatdown the Williamsburg road, and that he hadno doubt that it was endeavoring to reach theJames. On the 30th, while we were establishingour advance on Malvern Hill, Stuart, north of theChickahominy, was directing his cavalry columnstoward the bridges of that river behind us. Hadthe disposition of his forces been reversed at theoutset, and had he, with his main body, gone toCharles City road and obstructed and defendedthe crossings of White Oak Swamp, he could haveannoyed and perhaps embarrassed our move-ments. Finally, had his cavalry ascertained onJuly 1st, any time before 3 P. M., that the center

and right of our lines were more vulnerable andfavorable to attack than the left, the enemyneed not have delivered the unsuccessful anddisastrous assault on Malvern Hill, but, whilemaintaining a strong demonstration at that point,might have thrown two or three corps upon ourcenter below Malvern with hopes of dividing theUnion Army. Undoubtedly Gregg and Farnsworth,with the 8th Pennsylvania and 8th Illinois cavalry,would have successfully prevented the reeonnois-sance of our center and right, but that it was notattempted was a discredit to Stuart’s cavalry.

At Harrison’s Landing, General Stoneman hav-ing taken sick-leave and General Cooke havingbeen relieved, on the 5th of July I was appointedacting Brigadier-General and placed in commandof all the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, andat once issued orders organizing it into a cavalrycorps, and the history of cavalry brigades wasbegun. Stoneman, returning the same day, re-sumed command, and I took the First Brigade,composed of the 5th United States , the 3d and 4thPennsylvania , and the 1st New York Cavalry.

Active scouting followed in the direction ofRichmond and up the Chickahominy. On the 3dof August I crossed the James, with the 5th UnitedStates and 3d Pennsylvania Cavalry, to explore theways to Petersburg, encountering the 13 th VirginiaCavalry in a charge led by Lieutenant McIntosh, ofthe 5th United States , supported by Captain Miller,of the 3d Pennsylvania . The enemy was driven overseven miles, and his camp and supplies destroyed.

All the successes and sacrifices of the army werenow to be worse than lost — they were to be thrownaway by the withdrawal of the army from thePeninsula , instead of reenforcing it.

if. The total losses of our cavalry reported in the Seven Days’ battles was 234; that of the Confederates 71, of whichnumber 61 were credited to the 3d Pennsylvania Cavalry, at Willis Church, on the 29th of June.—W'. W. A.

4 ^

ROLL-BOOK OF CO. D, 27TH NEW YORK REGIMENT. FROM THE “HISTORYOF THE 27TH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.”

The scars show where a bullet passed through the Alabama , the night of May 6th, 1862, at West Point onroll-book and entered the heart of Lieutenant (formerly the York Eiver. Hartley was shot and instantly killedOrderly-Sergeant) John L. Bailey, who carried the roll- by Corporal H. M. Crocker, whose name, the eighth inbook in his breast-pocket. Lieutenant Bailey was shot the list of corporals, was obliterated by the tear and theby a Confederate picket named W. Hartley, of the 4th blood-stains.— Editors.