WAITING FOR THE ORDEAL BY COMBAT.
If any good fruits were to grow from the conscription, the seed had not
been planted a moment too soon.
The whole power of the Union was now to be exerted against the South;
and the Washington idea plainly was to lay the ax at the very root of
the rebellion.
Desultory movement had already begun in the Valley and along the river;
but it masked in nowise plain indication of the massing of troops for
another, and a greater, "On to Richmond!"
The separate corps of Banks, Fremont and Shields were hovering about
the flanks of the devoted Army of Manassas; and the decisive blow was
evidently to be aimed at that point. But the clear-sighted and
cool-headed tactician at the head of the bulwark of Virginia saw far
beyond the blundering war-chess of his antagonist. He prepared to
checkmate McClellan's whole combination; and suddenly--after weeks of
quiet preparation, of which the country knew no more than the
enemy--Manassas was evacuated!
To effect this movement, it was necessary to abandon all the heavy
river batteries, guarding the Potomac, at immense loss in guns and
material; and to destroy large quantities of commissary stores, for
which there was no transportation. But, "Joe Johnston" held the
movement to be necessary; and, by this time the South had learned to
accept that what he thought must be correct. The great disparity in
numbers, and the evident purpose of the Federals to make Richmond the
focal point of attack, spoke plainly to that perfect soldier the
necessity--_coute que coute_--of bringing his army within easy striking
distance of the Capital.
Stonewall Jackson--with Ewell's and Early's divisions of less than ten
thousand men of all arms--was detached to watch the enemy; and the
retrograde movement was completed so successfully that McClellan never
suspected the evacuation. Two days later, his grand array--"an army
with banners," bands braying and new arms glinting in the sun--moved
down to the attack; and then, doubtless to his infinite disgust, he
found only the smoking and deserted _debris_ of the Confederate camp.
The army he had hoped to annihilate was on its steady and orderly march
for Richmond.
Immediately, the baffled Federal embarked his entire force and landed
it on the Peninsula--formed by the junction of the York and James
rivers--in front of Magruder's fortifications. Failing at the front
door, McClellan again read Caesar, and essayed the back entrance.
Magruder's line of defense--a long one, reaching entirely across the
Federal advance--was held by a nominal force, not exceeding 7,500
effective men. Had this fact been known to its commander, the "grand
army" might easily have swept this handful before it and marched,
unopposed, into the Southern Capital. But "Prince John" was a wily and
bold soldier; and, while he sent to the rear most urgent statements of
his dire need and pressed the government for re-enforcement, he kept
his front covered by ceaseless vigilance, constant shifting of his
thinned battalions and continued active advance skirmishing. So
effective was this as entirely to deceive the enemy. McClellan sat down
before him and began to fortify!
Amid the anxiety of that moment and the rapid rush of grave events that
followed immediately upon it, the great importance of Magruder's
tactics on the Peninsula has largely been lost sight of. That they were
simply not to be overestimated, it is tardy justice to state. For,
there were scores of occasions in those grim four years, when the cant
went out--"We might have ended the war right here!" It was ever coupled
with--and nullified by--a large and sonorous "if;" but there is no
question but that--had Magruder permitted the tactician in his front to
estimate his weakness--the "Seven days' fights" would never have been
won, for Richmond would have been lost!
It were impossible to describe accurately the state of public feeling,
which now prevailed in the Southern Capital. Absolutely in the dark as
to the actual movement and its consequences; knowing only that their
cherished stronghold, Manassas, was deserted and its splendid system of
river batteries left a spoil; hearing only the gloomiest echoes from
the Peninsular advance and ignorant of Johnston's plans--or even of his
whereabouts--it was but natural that a gloomy sense of insecurity
should have settled down upon the masses, as a pall. A dread oppressed
them that the recent dramas of Nashville and New Orleans were to be
re-enacted on their own central theater; and, ever barometric, the
people let the mercury drop to zero, as they read the indications in
one another's faces. Social pleasures lately so frequent--social
intercourse almost--were now known no more. The music one heard was the
quick tap of the timing drum; the only step thought of, the double
quick to the front.
But gradually, the army that had been manoeuvering about the
Rappahannock began to arrive; and day and night the endless stream of
muddy men poured down Main street, in steady tramp for the Peninsula.
Grim and bronzed they were, those veterans of Manassas; smeared with
the clay of their camp, unwashed, unkempt, unfed; many ragged and some
shoeless. But they tramped through Richmond--after their forced
march--with cheery aspect that put to flight the doubts and fears of
her people. Their bearing electrified the citizens; and for the moment,
the rosy clouds of hope again floated above the horizon.
Even the scanty ration the soldiers had become inured to had been
reduced by necessities of their rapid march; and that knowledge caused
every corps that passed through to receive substantial tokens of the
sympathy and good will of the townspeople. Ladies and children thronged
the sidewalks, pressing on their defenders everything which the scanty
Confederate larder could supply; while, from many of the houses,
gloves, socks and comforters rained down upon the worst clad of the
companies.
"Johnny Reb" was ever a cheerful animal, with a general spice of
sardonic humor. Thus refreshed, inwardly and outwardly, the men would
march down the street; answering the waving handkerchiefs at every
window with wild cheers, swelling sometimes into the indescribable
"rebel yell!" Nor did they spare any amount of good-natured chaff to
those luckless stay-at-homes encountered on the streets.
"Come out'r that black coat! I see yer in it!"--"I know ye're a
conscrip'. Don't yer want 'er go for a sojer?"--"Yere's yer chance ter
git yer substertoot!"--and like shouts, leveled at the head of some
unlucky wight, constantly brought roars of laughter from the soldiers
and from his not sympathetic friends. Passing one house, a pale,
boyish-looking youth was noted at a window with a lady. Both waved
handkerchiefs energetically; and the men answered with a yell. But the
opportunity was too good to lose.
"Come right along, sonny! The lady'll spare yer! Here's a little muskit
fur ye'!"
"All right, boys!" cheerily responded the youth, rising from his
seat--"Have you got a leg for me, too?" And Colonel F. stuck the
shortest of stumps on the window-sill.
With one impulse the battalion halted; faced to the window, and
spontaneously came to "Present!" as the ringing rebel yell rattled the
windows of that block. The chord had been touched that the roughest
soldier ever felt!
Then came the calm; when the last straggler had marched through to the
front and Johnston's junction with Magruder was accomplished. The rosy
clouds faded into gray again; and, though the fluttering pulse of
Richmond beat a little more steadily, it was not entirely normal.
Rumors came from Yorktown of suffering and discontent. Coupled with
exaggerations of the really overwhelming force the enemy had massed
before it, they proved anything but encouraging. Still, there was no
hopelessness; and the preparations, that had by this time become a
matter of certainty--stretchers--bandages--lint and coarse, narrow
sheets--went steadily on.
The brave women of the city were a constant reproach, in their quiet,
unmurmuring industry, to the not infrequently faint-hearted and
despondent men. Constantly they worked on, and tried to look cheerfully
on the future by the light of the past. No one among them but knew that
real and serious danger threatened; no one among them but believed that
it would be met as it had been met before--boldly without doubt;
triumphantly if God willed!
No need for Virginia's sons to read of the Gracchi, with a thousand
Cornelias working cheerily and faithfully on the hard, tough fabrics
for them. One day an order came for thirty thousand sand-bags. Never
before did needles fly so fast, for who could tell but what that very
bag might stand between death and a heart dearer far than aught else on
earth. Thirty hours after the order came, the women of Richmond had
sent the bags to Yorktown!
At length, after three weeks of trying suspense, filled with every
fantastic shape of doubt and dread, came news of the evacuation of
Norfolk, the destruction of the iron-clad "Virginia," and of the
retreat from the Peninsula. Not appreciating the strategical reasons
for these movements, Richmond lost her temporary quiet and again fell
to lamenting the dark prospects for the city.
On the 4th of May, the last of the Confederate forces evacuated
Yorktown; reluctantly turning their backs on the enemy, to take up the
line of march for Richmond.
Next day McClellan's advance pressed on; and overtaking their rear,
under Longstreet, began heavy skirmishing to harass it, near
Williamsburg. Seeing the necessity of checking too vigorous pursuit,
and of teaching the Federals a lesson, Longstreet made a stand; and,
after a severe conflict--in which he inflicted much heavier loss than
he sustained, besides capturing several field pieces and colors--again
took up his march unmolested.
The battle of Williamsburg was the one brilliant episode of that gloomy
retreat. Although the main army could not be checked to give him
re-enforcement, and his wounded had to be left in the hands of the
enemy, Longstreet had gained a decided and effective success. But this
one misfortune for the moment dimmed the luster of his achievement in
the eyes of the Richmond people; and, perhaps, prevented much of the
good effect its decisive character might otherwise have had.
The appearance of the army, after the retreat from Williamsburg, did
not tend to cheer the inexpert. First came squads of convalescent sick,
barely able to march, who had been sent ahead to save the ambulances
for those worse than they. It was a black Sunday afternoon, when those
wan and hollow-eyed men limped painfully through the streets on their
weary way to Camp Winder Hospital. Weak--mud-encrusted and utterly
emaciated--many of them fell by the roadside; while others thankfully
accepted the rough transportation of any chance wagon, or cart, that
could carry them to the rest they yearned for.
But willing and energetic workers were at hand. Orders were obtained;
and carriages returning from church, hotel omnibuses--every wheeled
thing upon the streets were impressed for the service of mercy. By late
afternoon the wards of Winder Hospital were over-flowing; but
negligent, or overworked, commissaries had neglected to provide food,
and many of the men--in their exhausted condition--were reported dying
of starvation! Few women in Richmond dined that Sabbath. Whole
neighborhoods brought their untasted dinners to the chief worker among
them; and carriages and carts--loaded with baskets and hampers and
bearing a precious freight of loving womanhood--wended their way to the
hospital. By night hundreds of poor fellows had eaten such food as they
had not dreamed of for months; gentle hands had smoothed their pillows
and proffered needed stimulants; and sympathizing voices had bid them
be of good cheer, for to-morrow would dawn bright for all.
But were these worn and wretched men a fair sample of the army that was
to battle for their dear city against the fresh thousands of McClellan?
Oh, God! Had toil and privation done its work so thoroughly; and were
these the proud array that had marched to Manassas--the hardened, but
gallant host that had gone gaily to Yorktown? Were these the only
dependence of their hopes and their cause?
Sad and troubled were the hearts that beat that day, around the
wretched cots of the sufferers. But never a hand trembled--never a
voice faltered, as those grand women wrought on at their mission of
mercy.
After these came a few stragglers and camp followers in hardly better
plight; then the wagon trains; and, finally, the army.
The roads were in wretched condition. Spring rains and constant use had
churned them into liquid red mud. Hungry and worn, the men struggled
through it day after day--bearing their all on their backs, unable to
halt for cooking; and frequently stopped to labor on a broken-down
battery, or a mired wagon. Discipline naturally relaxed. It was
impossible to keep the weary and half-starved men to regular routine.
They straggled into Richmond muddy--dispirited--exhausted; and,
throwing themselves on cellar doors and sidewalks, slept heavily,
regardless of curious starers that collected around every group.
Never had the Southern army appeared half so demoralized; half so unfit
to cope with the triumphant and well-appointed brigades pressing close
upon it. Had McClellan been at hand, there is little doubt as to what
the result would have been; but a few days sufficed to change the
appearance of the whole army fabric.
Renewed discipline--that magnetic "touch of the elbow"--attention to
the commissariat and the healthy location of their new camping grounds
brought the men back to good condition in a time wonderfully short to
the lookers-on in the city.
But they were to have little rest. McClellan advanced to the Chickahominy
and strongly fortified his position. Johnston fronted him; and though
too weak to attack at this moment, it became apparent that the first
move in the game for the great stake must be made in a few days. And it
was equally plain that it was to be made under the loving eyes of those
all fought best for; within hearing of the Cabinet itself!
The details of the campaign of this eventful summer are too well
known--and have been too minutely and eloquently described, even were
there space--for me to attempt their repetition here.
For a week the armies faced each other, plainly in sight; the shrill
notes of "Dixie" mingling with the brazen strains from the Federal
bands; and yet no movement was made. Once more Richmond assumed her old
activity and became a vast camp. Busy looking officers hastened from
point to point; regiments shifting position passed through town every
hour; mounted orderlies dashed in all directions and batteries, wagon
trains and ambulances rumbled in and out of town by every road. The
reflection of the activity around them, and the improved condition of
the army--in physique and morale--inspired the people; and they once
more began to feel hopeful, if not overconfident.
Still the river was undefended. There was no fort. Only a few water
batteries--out of which the men could easily be shelled--and a few
useless wooden gunboats protected the water approach to the Capital. Up
this the heavy fleet of Federal iron-clads was even now carefully
sounding its way. Every means had been taken to wake the Government to
the necessity of obstructing the river; but either carelessness, or the
confusion consequent on the retreat, had rendered them unavailing. Now
at the last moment, every nerve was strained to block the river and to
mount a few guns on Drewry's bluff--a promontory eighty feet high,
overhanging a narrow channel some nine miles below the city.
On the 15th of May, the iron-clads approached the still unfinished
obstructions. There was just time to sink the "Jamestown"--one of the
wooden shells that had done such good work under the gallant Barney--in
the gap; to send her crew and those of the "Virginia" and "Patrick
Henry" to man the three guns mounted on the hill above--when the
iron-clads opened fire.
Their cannonade was terrific. It cut through the trees and landed the
missiles a mile inland. The roar of the heavy guns, pent and echoed
between the high banks, was like continuous thunder, lit by lurid
flashes as they belched out 13-inch Shrapnel and scattered ounce balls
like hail among the steadfast gunners on the bluff.
But the terrible plunging fire of Captain Farrand's sea-dogs damaged
the plating of the armored vessels and kept the wooden ones out of
range; while the galling sharp-shooting of Taylor Wood's men, on the
banks below, cleared their decks and silenced their guns. Once more the
wager of battle was decided for the South; and the ironclads retired
badly damaged.
This result was most cheering; but, unlike the early success of the
war, it was received with a solemn, wordless thankfulness. Then, when
the imminent danger was passed, the Government went rapidly to work to
improve the obstruction and strengthen the battery at Drewry's Bluff.
This became a permanent fort, admirably planned and armed with navy
guns, worked by the seamen of the disused vessels. The Federals stuck
to the name they first gave it--Fort Darling--for no reason, perhaps,
but because of the tender reminiscences clinging around it.
Then came another season of stillness on the Chickahominy lines, which
General McClellan improved to protect his rear communications; and to
throw up strong embrasured fortifications along his whole
front--indicating his intention to sit down before the city in regular
siege; or to fight behind his works.
Meantime, the course of the Government would have inspired anything but
confidence, had not the people placed the deepest and most abiding
faith in the mettle and truth of their soldiers.
Congress, after weak and more than useless debates on the propriety of
the step, precipitately adjourned and ran away from the threatened
danger. These wise legislators had read history. They felt that the
cackling which saved Rome was but one of the miracles of that
philosophic Muse who teaches by experience: and that--as they could not
save their city--they had better save themselves.
The Departments were packed in case of necessity for flight; and some
of the archives were even put on board canal boats and towed beyond the
city. This may have been only a just precaution; but the citizens of
Richmond--looking upon its defense as the key to all further
resistance--saw in it only acceptance of the worst results; and, when
the families of the principal officials and officers fled from the
Capital and sought safer homes in North Carolina and Georgia, her
people would not accept as the real reason the averred necessity for
saving the very small amount of provision they consumed.
But the Legislature of Virginia and the City Council of Richmond met
and resolved that they were willing to stand any loss of property and
life--even the destruction of the city--before giving it up to the
enemy. They waited upon the President and so explained to him. Mr.
Davis solemnly announced his resolution to defend the position while a
man remained; and to cast his fate with that of a people who could act
so bravely.
Still, so doubtful was the issue of the contest held by the lukewarm,
or cowardly, few that they hesitated not to express their belief that
the war was done; and they stored in secret places quantities of
tobacco to be used as currency when the invaders came in!
When the _dies irae_ really came; and burning Richmond sent similarly
hidden store,
"With the smoke of its ashes to poison the gale"--
little was the sympathy borne on the breeze for them, who--living
early enough--had shamed the money-changers scourged from the Temple!