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.
Pages:
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213