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delayed by the badness of the roads and by the swollen streams, it played no part in the battle, and night at length terminated the contest. The Confederates had driven back their opponent two miles, and had captured nine guns and a vast amount of camp equipage and stores, including those of the medical department, of which they were much in want. The success was, however, attended with severe loss; the Federal smoothbored 12-pounder Napoleon guns had produced much havoc, and were considered to have been more deadly in the wooded country than the rifled Parrot guns.

During the whole day the Federal right wing, comprising the two corps of Generals Franklin and Porter, remained idle; no attempt was made to force the passage of the Chickahominy either at Mechanicsville or at Newbridge, and so either to effect a diversion by marching on Richmond, or to move to the support of the left wing by the shorter route across the stream. General M Clellan spent the greater portion of the afternoon on the slopes of the hill in front of General Porter's corps, overlooking the Chickahominy, from which place the sound of the firing could be heard, and even the explosion of the shells seen as they burst high above the forest. He did not seem to be aware of the serious nature of the engagement in which his left wing was involved, and it was not until late in the evening, shortly before dark, that he resolved on ascertaining in person the true state of affairs. During the greater portion of that night the general was on horseback. His first point was the old quarters of General Sumner on the left bank of the stream, but although the camps were still standing, every available man had been marched to the front; the stragglers and the officers' servants having been ordered to proceed to the bridge and repair or recon

struct such portions as had been injured by the swollen

stream.

Leaving Sumner's head-quarters, General M'Clellan reached Despatch Station about 9 P.M., and there first heard the true account of the battle. Railway trains filled with wounded encumbered the line, and accumulations of stores blocked up the station. Amidst this confusion, General M'Clellan endeavoured to extract the truth from the various statements made by two voluble informants, and after making himself master as far as possible of the true position of affairs, he and his staff returned to General Sumner's headquarters. The night was pitch dark, and the gloom of the forest was only illumined by millions of fire-flies. With some difficulty the general reached his destination, and, after receiving and transmitting numerous telegrams, lay down to the rest which he much needed, worn out as he was by fatigue and sickness.*

Both armies bivouacked on the ground that they occupied at the termination of the action, and both were aware that the struggle would be renewed on the following morning. During the night, General Huger brought up his division to reinforce those of Generals Hill, Longstreet, and Smith, whilst the several Federal divisions and brigades which had crossed the Chickahominy late in the evening of the 31st were closed up to reinforce and take the place of the troops which had suffered so severely.

It was indeed an anxious night for both armies, and even more so for the inhabitants of Richmond. Within sound of the guns, almost within sight of the combatants, their safety depending on the events of the

General M'Clellan was suffering from chronic dysentery.

battle, were the wives, daughters, and nearest relatives of those who were engaged. The President himself was on the field, and it seemed that the battle of the Seven Pines must be that which had been so long looked for to decide the fate of the campaign. The long line of Federal prisoners captured from General Casey's division, as they were marched to the rear, had afforded some evidence of the success of the Confederates; but the numerous ambulances and carts filled with wounded bore testimony to the cost at which the battle had been gained. During the night of the 31st, and the succeeding days, the city of Richmond was one vast hospital; and the ladies of Virginia, leaving for a time the task of furnishing clothing for the troops, devoted their energies to relieving the wants and alleviating the sufferings of the wounded. Short repose was allowed to the dwellers in Richmond on the night of the 31st. At daybreak the sound of artillery awoke those whom anxiety had suffered to sleep, and on either side the advanced troops seized their arms. On the right of the Federal line were two divisions of General Sumner's corps, under Generals Sedgwick and Richardson. On the left of Sedgwick, between the railway and the Williamsburg Road, was General Kearney, of General Heintzelman's corps; and on his left the division of General Couch, of General Keyes' corps. Advancing up the railway was General Hooker's division. The engagement commenced near the Williamsburg Railway about 5 A. M., and lasted until 10 A. M. The Confederates did not evince the vigour they had shown on the previous day; they were opposed to fresh troops, who, undismayed by the repulse of their comrades, advanced boldly to the attack; and the Federals after some resistance regained the

ground they had lost on the 31st, and recaptured one of the guns which had been taken from General Casey's division.

Towards the close of the action, General M'Clellan arrived on the ground. He had been delayed by the difficulty of crossing the Chickahominy, which had risen during the night, and had rendered General Sumner's bridge almost impassable. As he approached the battle-field the evidences of the serious nature of the struggle met his eye: the woods were filled with the wounded, who were conveyed with as little delay as possible to the few farm-houses, which had been converted into temporary hospitals, where the surgeons were earnestly engaged in administering to their wants; whilst interspersed with these sorrowful signs of battle were the news-boys almost as busily occupied in selling the last copies of the New York papers, which had just arrived by the train from West Point. General M'Clellan rode forward to where Sumner and the several generals under his command were directing the movements of the troops. The open field was covered with the Confederate dead, and the volleys of musketry in the neighbouring woods marked the position occupied by the combatants. Both sides were, however, exhausted, and about 10 A.M. the firing, as if by mutual consent, died away. The army laid down in the positions they occupied, and slept; the artillerymen stretched like the dead under the very wheels of their guns. Riding along the lines from right to left, General M'Clellan visited the several divisions, and was even received with cheers from those troops who had suffered most severely on the previous day.

During this time his right wing had remained idle.

The Chickahominy was indeed more difficult to cross than on the previous day, but still did not present an insurmountable obstacle. Generals Franklin and Porter's divisions were each possessed of a formidable artillery, sufficient to protect and cover the passage of the infantry; and it is idle to suppose that there was not sufficient engineering skill among the troops to enable them to construct bridges for the infantry. Possibly the artillery could not have been conveyed across the stream, but the presence of the infantry divisions would have been invaluable. However, from whatever cause it arose, whether from a want of decision, or from over-caution on the part of the general commanding, or from his knowledge that neither the subordinate generals nor the troops could be depended on, unless accompanied and covered by a powerful artillery, the right wing did not move; and as on the 31st the Confederates, by the absence of General Huger's division, missed the opportunity of effecting the destruction of the Federal left wing, so on the 1st of June did General M'Clellan fail to avail himself of the advantage of attacking with his whole force troops which had been held in check on the previous day by a part of his army. On the evening of the 31st he might have been unaware of the serious nature of the attack on his left wing, and therefore cautious before he committed the division on his right; but on the succeeding day, or during the night, there was ample time to make arrangements for an advance of his whole force. There were doubtless many difficulties to be contended with, such as the almost impossibility of obtaining a clear idea of the progress of affairs, owing to the nature of the country, which hindered if it did not prevent personal in

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