102 



AEMY OPERATIONS. 



that his movement would be unsuccessful. It 

 was as follows : 



HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT or THE KAPPAHANNOCK, > 

 OPPOSITE FREDEKICKSBUKG, May 24, 1S62. J 



His Excellency the President : 



I obeyed your order immediately ; for it was posi- 

 tive and urgent, and, perhaps, as a subordinate, there 

 I ought to stop ; but I trust I may be allowed to say 

 something in relation to the subject, especially in view 

 of your remark that everything depends upon the 

 celerity and vigor of my movements; I beg to say that 

 cooperation between Gen. Fremont and myself to cut 

 off Jackson and Ewell is not to be counted upon, even 

 if it is not a practicable impossibility ; next, that I am 

 entirely beyond helping distance of Gen. Banks, and 

 no celerity or vigor will be available as far as he is 

 concerned ; next, that by a glance at the map it will 

 be seen that the line of retreat of the enemy s forces 

 up the valley is shorter than mine to go against him. 

 It will take a week or ten days for the force to get to 

 the valley by the route which will give it food and for- 

 age, and by that time the enemy will have retreated. 

 I shall gain nothing for you there, and lose much for 

 you here. It is, therefore, not only on personal grounds 

 that I have a heavy heart in the matter, but I feel that 

 it throws us all back, and from Richmond north we 

 shall have all our large mass paralyzed, and shall have 

 to repeat what we have just accomplished. 



I have ordered Gen. Shields to commence the move, 

 ment to-morrow morning. A second division will fol- 

 low in the afternoon. Did I understand you aright 

 that you wish that I personally should accompany this 

 expedition? very respectfully, 



IRVIN MCDOWELL. 



The division of Gen. Shields, accompanied 

 by other portions of McDowell's forces, was on 

 the march at noon of the next day, and moved 

 fifteen miles, and the next day, the 26th, en- 

 camped six miles beyond Catlett's Station. 

 Early the next morning, moving again, it pass- 

 ed Manassas Junction during the day, where 

 it met a portion of the force driven from Front 

 Royal, and learned that Gen. Banks was flying 

 before Gen. Jackson, and halted at Haymarket. 

 Twelve days previous this division had left 

 Gen. Banks's army to join Gen. McDowell, on 

 his way, as it was believed, to cooperate Avith 

 Gen. McClellan before Richmond. It had been 

 the division of Gen. Lander, and had become 

 familiar with the Shenandoah Valley, up 

 which they had pursued the enemy from the 

 Potomac to the northern base of the Massanut- 

 ten Mountains. Now the work of a whole 

 winter and spring was before them to do over 

 again. In cooperation with Gen. Fremont's 

 forces they prepared to aid in cutting off the 

 retreat of Gen. Jackson after having driven 

 Gen. Banks across the Potomac. On the 27th 

 a column under Gen. Kimball, embracing, as a 

 part of it, the entire division of Gen. Shields, 

 commenced its inarch for Front Royal, which, 

 without serious opposition, it was expected to 

 reach in three days, and Strasburg in four. 



The advance of Gen. McDowell at the time 

 it was countermanded had reached Bowling 

 Green, fifteen miles from Hanover Court House, 

 which was two days later occupied by a force 

 from Gen. McClellan's army under Gen. Porter. 



The order creating the Mountain Department 

 was issued by the President on the llth of 

 March. It was supposed at this time that the 



plan of the campaign for Gen. Fremont was to 

 move up the left bank of the Big Sandy river 

 in Kentucky, to Prestonville and Pikeville, 

 through Cumberland Gap to Knoxville, and 

 thus command the southern railroad, and cut 

 off any retreat from or any reinforcements to 

 Richmond. On the 29th Gen. Fremont, at 

 Wheeling, assumed the command, and Gen. 

 Rosecrans retired and took command of Gen. 

 Pope's corps under Gen. Grant. The new de- 

 partment was bounded on the east by that of 

 the Potomac under Gen. McClellan, and on the 

 west by that of the Mississippi under Gen. 

 Halleck. Active preparations had been made 

 by Gen. Rosecrans for the spring campaign. 

 On the same day Gen. Fremont issued an or- 

 der assigning Brig.-Gen. B. F. Kelly to the 

 command of the railroad district, consisting of 

 all of western Virginia, north and east of the 

 counties of Jackson, Roane, Calhoun, Braxton, 

 Lewis, Barbour, and Tucker inclusive, and 

 west of the Alleghauies, Maryland, and Penn- 

 sylvania. 



Military operations in this department, un- 

 der Gen. Fremont, commenced about the 1st 

 of April. Gen. Milroy, who had been some 

 time holding the pass of Cheat Mountain in 

 Randolph county in the northern part of the 

 State, advanced twelve miles to Camp Green- 

 brier, thence nine miles in a northeasterly di- 

 rection to Camp Alleghany, a position occupied 

 by the enemy, who retreated before him. On 

 the 10th he had occupied Monterey, being an 

 advance of sixteen miles. This position was 

 evacuated by the Confederates, and also Hun- 

 tersville. The next day he moved toward 

 McDowell, distant ten miles, and occupied it 

 and advanced subsequently to Fort Shen- 

 andoah eight miles. Thus far Gen. Milroy 

 had followed the retreating foe from Monterey 

 in the direction of Staunton in the Shenan- 

 doah Valley. 



On the 3d of May Gen. Fremont left Wheel- 

 ing and arrived at New Creek on the Balti- 

 more and Ohio railroad, and on the 5th, accom- 

 panied by his staff and body guard, and one or 

 two regiments of infantry and a battery, he ad- 

 vanced about six miles ; on the 7th he reached 

 Petersburg, a small town twelve miles beyond 

 Moorefield, and forty-four from New Creek. 

 Gen. Schenck's brigade had left Petersburg on 

 the 3d. Their aim was to effect a junction with 

 Gen. Milroy, whose situation was becoming 

 exposed in consequence offerees of the enemy 

 advancing from the east. Gen. Milroy in his ad- 

 vance had driven the Confederates beyond the 

 Shenandoah Mountains, the boundary of Gen. 

 Fremont's department, and had made his head- 

 quarters at McDowell. On the 5th of May the 

 32d Ohio regiment was advanced beyond the 

 ShenandoahMountains, about sixteen miles from 

 McDowell, for the double purpose of scouting 

 and foraging. The 75th Ohio and 3d Virginia, 

 with Hyman's batte.ry, were encamped at the 

 foot of the mountain on the west side, and 

 the remainder of Gen. Milroy's force was at 



