.UMINSTOX, 



K(i(JLESTON. 



397 



ve knew, forlwdc an attempt on Wa*l.i 



iifcdcratc arm\ won iii<ro diorgiinizod l>\ vie 

 .111 that oftlie'rnitcd State* by defeat. The 



iouthorn volunteer* believed that the object* of the 



. ln-i-n aeeoiii|ili*hcd l.\ their \ iet,,r\ , an. I tliat 

 In \ had achieved ail that their countn n.juin.l ..r 

 Main . therefore, ill ignorance of their mill 

 liirations, U-t't the arnn nut to return. Some 

 I hoine t exhibit tin" trophies picked upon 



1; others left their regiments \\itlnnit 



attend 1. 1 \Miuiidcd friends, flVi|llclltl\ uee.,|n 



them to hospitals ill distant ti. \\iis. Sueh 



rts nl' general ami stall' olliecrs and rail- 

 l.eiid*. K\a:_'i, r e rated idea* of the victory, piv- 

 vailinir iiiii'in^ our troop*, ( .o*t us more men than the 

 ill ariiiN lo*t by defeat. 



(ii-ii. .lohn.-ton's difficulties with the Confcd- 

 \dniinistration In-gan early, and were quite 

 . On tin- 1st of March, 1802, he was 

 iblii;ed to write tlirt'ctly to President Davis and 

 I'liioiistraie against ilie conduct of the Secre- 

 u v 1. 1 War, lion. Judah P. Henjamin, who was 

 inting leaves of absence and furloughs with- 

 uit consult ing tlu 1 commanding officers, and to 

 such an ex tout as to impair the discipline of the 

 riny. In March he fell back with his forces to 

 ie line of the Rappahannock, in order to be 

 icarer Richmond and better able to defend it, 

 ilia! ever route the National army under Gen. 

 McClellan might choose in moving against that 

 ;-ity. When that army was removed by water 

 to Fort Monroe and chose the approach up the 

 peninsula, Gen. Johnston, in a council of war with 

 Mr. Davis, Gen. Lee, and other commanders, 

 proposed that all the available Confederate 

 forces in Georgia and the Carolinas and those at 

 Norfolk, Va., be united with those on the penin- 

 sula and those on the Rappahannock, to make 

 __ large an army as possible to meet the inva- 

 sion, and that this army be held near Richmond 

 to await the advance of the enemy, instead of 

 opposing his progress up the peninsula. Johns- 

 ton says : 



In the discussion that followed, Gen. Randolph, 

 who had been n naval officer, objected to the plan 

 proposed, because it included at least the temporary 

 abandonment of Norfolk, which would involve the 

 probable loss of the materials for many vessels-of- 

 war contained in the navy-vard there. Gen. Lee 

 it, because lie thought that the withdrawal 

 from Smith Carolina and Georgia of any considerable 

 number of troops would expose the important sea- 

 ports of Charleston and Savannah to the danger of 

 -capture. lie thought, too, that the peninsula had 

 excellent fields of battle for a small army contending 

 witli a irrcat one, and that we should for that reason 

 make the contest with McClcllan's army there. Gen. 

 Longstreet took little part, which I attributed to his 

 deafness. I maintained that all to lie accomplished, 

 hy any success attainable on the peninsula, would be 

 to delay the enemy two or three weeks in his march 

 to Richmond, for the reasons already jriven; and that 

 siieee-is would soon give us back everything tempo- 

 rarily abandoned to achieve it. and would be decisive 

 of the war. as well as of the campaign. The I 'resi- 

 dent announced his decision in favor of Gen. Lee's 

 opinion, and directed that Smith's and l.on.irst reel's 

 divisions should join the Army of the I'cnniMila. and 

 ordered me to ifo there and take command, the !><- 

 partmeiits of Norfolk and the Peninsula being added 



' that of Northern Virginia. 



Gen. Johnston assumed his new command on 

 April 17. having about 53,000 men, and proceeded 

 to strengthen the defensive works across t he- 

 peninsula at Yorktown. McClellan constructed 



elaborate work* for the reduction of lhee, and 

 when he was nearly ready to open hi* b.v 

 John-tun fell back, May 3- 4, l<> \\'illiaiii.lnirg. 

 In the afternoon of the 4tli the rear guard of 

 the Confederate army and the aihaiice gnunl of 

 the National calm- into collision ; Imthsid. 

 re-en f< nvcd, ami the skirmish wa> developed into 

 a bat tie mi the ~ith, which resulted in (lie with- 

 drawal of the Confederates after heavy fighting, 

 leaving 4<H) of their wounded in Willianisbiirg, 

 and taking with them alxmt that nnn.> 

 prisoners. The National loss was about ^.^(Hi. 

 the Confederate about 1,800. McClellan moved 

 slowly up the peninsula, establishing abase of 

 supplies at White House, on the I'ainunkey, and 

 thence westward toward Richmond. The chief 

 natural obstacle in his path was the Chickahom- 

 iny river with its connecting swamps: and this 

 runs in such a direction that he could not place 

 his whole army on the south or right bank of it 

 without imperiling his communications with his 

 base. He threw his left wing across that stream, 

 and with his right fought at Mechanicsville and 

 Hanover Junction, in order to make the way 

 clear for a re-enforcement of 40,000 men under 

 Gen. McDowell to join him. But McDowell was 

 called away to meet a Confederate force that was 

 moving down the Shenandoah valley, and John- 

 ston seized this opportunity to attack the isolated 

 left wing, which was within six miles of the 

 Confederate capital. He was favored by a heavy 

 rain, which in the night of May 30 swelled the 

 river and swept away some of trie bridges. 1 1 e 

 supposed that all were impassable ; but one re- 

 mained, and the veteran Gen. Sumner, anticipat- 

 ing the battle, had his corps drawn up ready to 

 cross as soon as he should receive the command 

 to do so. Johnston attacked on the 31st, and his 

 men almost surprised the enemy in their half- 

 finished intrencnments ; but they lost heavily 

 before the works, and succeeded in carrying them 

 only when a large detachment made a detour 

 and took them in flank. Johnston's plan of 

 battle depended mainly upon thrusting in a 

 force between McClellan's detached left wing 

 and the river : to strike that wing on its right 

 flank, double it up, and at the same time cut it 

 off from all connection with the main army. 

 He began this movement, but it was frustrated 

 by Sumner, whose corps crossed the river prompt- 

 ly on a single frail bridge, met the Confederate 

 flanking force, and after hard fighting drove it 

 off and cleared the ground. At the close of this 

 battle which bears the double name of Fair 

 Oaks and Seven Pines, and which resulted in a 

 National loss of over 5,000 men and a Confeder- 

 ate Ipss of nearly 7,000 Gen. Johnston received 

 two wounds, a musket shot in the shoulder and 

 a blow in the breast from a fragment of shell. 

 He was carried from the field in an ambulance, 

 and was not able to return to duty till autumn. 

 Two days later the command of the forces about 

 Richmond wa: given to Gen. Robert E. Lee; 

 and Johnston, in his " Narrative," takes pains to 

 point out the fact that as soon as he lost com- 

 mand of the Army of Virginia his suggestion was 

 adopted, and the concentration of forces which 

 had been denied to him was given to his suc- 

 cessor. He criticises his own action at Seven 

 Pines, saying that he brought on the Iwttle too 

 soon by one day ; for twenty- four hours later 



