IT WAS not until three weeks after the fight between the ironclads that the great army under General McClellan arrived off Fortress Monroe, the greater portion of the troops coming down the Potomac in steam transports.Vast quantities of stores had been accumulated in and around the fortress.Guns of a size never before used in war were lying on the wharfs in readiness -to be placed in batteries, while Hampton Roads were crowded with transports and store vessels watched over by the Monitor and the other war ships.McClellan's army was a large one, but not so strong a force as he had intended to have taken with him, and as soon as he arrived at Fortress Monroe he learned that he would not be able to expect much assistance from the fleet.The Merrimac completly closed the James River; and were the more powerful vessels of the fleet to move up the York River, she would be able to sally out and destroy the rest of the fleet and the transports.
As it was most important to clear the peninsula between the two rivers before Magruder should receive strong reinforcements, a portion of the troops were at once landed, and on the 4th of April 56,000 men and 100 guns disembarked and started on their march against Yorktown.As soon as the news of the arrival of the Northern army at Fortress Monroe reached Richmond fresh steps were taken for the defense of the city.Magruder soon found that it would be impossible with the force at his command to hold the line he had proposed, and a large body of negroes and troops were set to work to throw up defenses between Yorktown and a point on the Warwick River thirteen and a half miles away.
A portion of this line was covered by the Warwick Creek, which he dammed up to make it unfordable, and erected batteries to guard the dams.Across the intervening ground a weak earthwork with trenches was constructed, there being no time to raise stronger works; but Magruder relied chiefly upon the swampy and difficult nature of the country, and the concealment afforded by the forest, which rendered it difficult for the enemy to discover the weakness of the defenders.
He posted 6,000 men at Yorktown and Gloucester Point, and the remaining 5,000 troops under his command were scattered along the line of works to the Warwick River.He knew that if McClellan pushed forward with all his force he must be successful; but he knew also that if the enemy could but be held in check for a few days assistance would reach him from General Johnston's army.
Fortunately for the Confederates, the weather, which had been fine and clear during the previous week, changed on the very day that McClellan started.The rain came down in torrents, and the roads became almost impassable.The columns struggled on along the deep and muddy tracks all day, and bivouacked for the night in the forests.The next morning they resumed their march, and on reaching the first line of intrenchments formed by the Confederates found them deserted, and it was not until they approached the Warwick Creek that they encountered serious opposition.Had they pushed forward at once they would have unquestionably captured Richmond.But McClellan's fault was over-caution, and he believed himself opposed by a very much larger force than that under the command of Magruder;consequently, instead of making an attack at once he began regular siege operations against the works on Warwick Creek and those at Yorktown.
The delay saved Richmond.Every day reinforcements arrived, and by the time that McClellan's army, over 100,000 strong, had erected their batteries and got their heavy guns into position, Magruder had been reinforced by some 10,000 men under General Johnston, who now assumed the command, while other divisions were hurrying up from Northern and Western Virginia.Upon the very night before the batteries were ready to open, the Confederates evacuated their positions and fell back, carrying with them all their guns and stores to the Chickahominy River, which ran almost across the peninsula at a distance of six miles only from Richmond.
The Confederates crossed and broke down the bridges, and prepared to make another stand.The disappointment of the Federals was great.After ten days of incessant labor and hardship they had only gained possession of the village of Yorktown and a tract of low swampy country.The divisions in front pressed forward rapidly after the Confederates; but these had managed their plan so well that all were safely across the stream before they were overtaken.
The dismay in Richmond had for a few days been great.Many people left the town for the interior, taking their valuables with them, and all was prepared for the removal of the state papers and documents.But as the Federals went on with their fortifications, and the reinforcements began to arrive, confidence was restored, and all went on as before.
The great Federal army was so scattered through the forests, and the discipline of some of the divisions was so lax that it was some days before McClellan had them ranged in order on the Chickahominy.Another week elapsed before he was in a position to undertake fresh operations; but General Johnston had now four divisions on the spot, and he was too enterprising a general to await the attack.Consequently he crossed the Chickahominy, fell upon one of the Federal divisions and almost destroyed it, and drove back the whole of their left wing.The next morning the battle was renewed, and lasted for five hours.
