122 



AEMY OPERATIONS. 



their men in position. The attack was com- 

 menced by the Confederates about two o'clock 

 p. M., about one mile and a half above Savage's 

 Station, and the conflict continued until near 

 night. The enemy, advancing in solid masses 

 to within a short distance of the artillery, sufferr 

 ed severely and were repulsed. During the 

 night Gens. Sumner and Franklin fell back to 

 "White Oak Swamp bridge. 



On the morning of Monday, the 30th _of June, 

 all the troops and all the trains were in safety 

 beyond "White Oak bridge, which presented a 

 new obstacle to the Confederates. Gens. Sum- 

 ncr and Franklin were left to act as a rear 

 guard, and hold the passage of the White Oak 

 Swamp, whilst Gens. Heintzelman, with the 

 divisions of Gens. Hooker, Kearny, Sedgwick, 

 and McCall, were placed at the point of inter- 

 section of the roads leading from Eichmond, 

 called Charles City cross roads. These move- 

 ments protected the trains until they arrived 

 ;.G the James river, precisely at the time when 

 the transports with provisions and ammunition 

 and hospital stores arrived from Fortress Monroe. 



The advance of the Confederate force was 

 actively resumed early in the morning. Gens. 

 D. H. Hill, Whiting, and Ewell, under the com- 

 mand of Gen. Jackson, crossed the Chicka- 

 hominy by the Grapevine bridge, and followed 

 the Federal retreat by the "Williamsburg road 

 and Savage's Station. Gens. Longstreet, A. P. 

 Hill, Huger, and Magruder took the Charles 

 City road with the intention of cutting off the 

 Federal retreat. At the White Oak Swamp 

 the left wing under Gen. Jackson came np with 

 the Federal force under Gens. Franklin and 

 Sumner, about 11 A. M. They had crossed the 

 stream and burned the bridge behind them. 

 An artillery fire was opened upon both sides, 

 which continued with great severity and de- 

 struction until night. The result of this battle 

 was to prevent the further advance of the ene- 

 my in this direction, which was the single line 

 of road over which the trains had passed. 



Late on the same day, n battle was fought 

 between the forces under Gen. Heintzelman and 

 the main force of the enemy, which attempted 

 to advance by the Charles City road to cut off 

 the retreat. This force was led by Gens. Long- 

 street, A. P. Hill, and Huger. The former, 

 however, being called away, the command de- 

 volved upon Gen. Hill. As the masses advanced 

 upon the Federal batteries of heavy guns they 

 were received with such a destructive fire of 

 artillery and musketry as threw them into dis- 

 order. Gen. Lee sent all his disposable troops 

 to the rescue, but the Federal fire v/as so terri- 

 ble as to disconcert the coolest veterans. "Whole 

 ranks of the Confederate troops were hurled 

 to the ground. Says an actor in the conflict, 

 "The thunder of the cannon, the cracking of 

 the musketry from thousands of combatants, 

 mingled with the screams of the wounded and 

 the dying, were terrific to the ear and to the 

 imagination." The conflict thus continued 

 within a narrow space for hours, and not a foot 



of ground was won by the Confederates. Night 

 was close at hand. The Federal lines were 

 strengthened and the confidence of the Con- 

 federate general began to falter. The losses of 

 his exhausted and worn out troops in attempt- 

 ing to storm the batteries were terrible. Orders 

 were given to Gen. Jackson to cover the re- 

 treat in case the army should have to fall back, 

 and directions were sent to Richmond to get 

 all the public property ready for removal. The 

 Federal forces, perceiving the confusion, began 

 step by step to press forward. The posture of 

 affairs at this time is thus related by a Confed- 

 erate officer : " The enemy, noticing our confu- 

 sion, now advanced, with the cry, ' Onward to 

 Richmond ! ' Yes, along the whole hostile 

 front rang the shout, ' Onward to Richmond ! ' 

 Many old soldiers who had served in distant 

 Missouri and on the plains of Arkansas wept 

 in the bitterness of their souls like children. 

 Of what avail had it been to us that our best 

 blood had flowed for six long days ? of what 

 avail all our unceasing and exhaustless endu- 

 rance? Everything, everything seemed lost, 

 and a general depression came over all our 

 hearts. Batteries dashed past in headlong 

 flight ; ammunition, hospital and supply wagons 

 rushed along, and swept the troops away with 

 them from the battle field. In vain the most 

 frantic exertion, entreaty and self-sacrifice of 

 the staff officers! The troops had lost their 

 foot-hold, and all was over with the Southern 

 Confederacy. 



"In this moment of desperation Gen. A. P. 

 Hill came up with a few regiments he had man- 

 aged to rally, but the enemy was continually 

 pressing nearer and nearer ; louder and louder 

 their shouts, and the watchword, ' On to Rich- 

 mond ! ' could be heard. Cavalry officers 

 sprang from their saddles and rushed into the 

 ranks of the infantry regiments, now deprived 

 of their proper officers. Gen. Hill seized the 

 standard of the Fourth North Carolina regi- 

 ment, which he had formerly commanded, and 

 shouted to the soldiers, 'If you will not fol- 

 low me, I will perish alone.' Upon this a num- 

 ber of officers dashed forward to cover their 

 beloved general with their bodies ; the soldiers 

 hastily rallied, and the cry ' Lead on, Hill ; head 

 your old North Carolina boys ! ' rose over the 

 field. And now Hill charged forward with 

 this mass he had thus worked up to the Avildest 

 enthusiasm. The enemy halted when they saw 

 these columns, in flight a moment before, now 

 advancing to the attack, and Hill burst upon 

 his late pursuers like a famished lion. A fear- 

 ful hand to hand conflict now ensued, for there 

 was no time to load and fire. The ferocity 

 with which this combat was waged was in- 

 credible. It was useless to beg the exasperated 

 men for quarter ; there was no moderation, no 

 pity, no compassion in that bloody work of 

 bayonet and knife. The son sank dying at his 

 father's feet ; the father forgot that he had a 

 child a dying child ; the brother did not see 

 that a brother was expiring a few paces from 



