The daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1863-1864, 1864-01-30
THE pEN1NsuLAR CAMPAIGN.


7 The causes of the delay in the transpor
tation of tho army are fully sketched oy
Gen. Mcclellan. On reaching Fortress Mon !,
roe it was found that no steps had oeen Ia
ken to secure accurate Typographical inior-
nation at that point of the enemys posi-
t;ons. and of the country occupied by him,
1t was also found that, IN direcI eonsra Hs,
diction to statements made op tne Masy
Department at Washington, flag'omccr
Goldsboroug was unable to 90 more Vnah
watch the Merrimac and her coDsorts IN the
James river It consequently became ne.
cessary to remodel the campaign, and Con.
Mcclellan details, at length, the causes
which again and again occurred to produce
the same result-disorganizing plans once
arranged and necessitatiug the abandon
ment of projects already in process OF ac-
complishment. A letter from Gen. Keyes
to Senator Harris, of New York, is here Civ
en-, which fully explains the operation OF the
most fatal of these causes in the sudden
withdrawal by the President from the ex-.
pedition of the First army corps, under
Gen. Mcdowell. scarcely week after his
excellency had promised that no such step
should, on any account be taken.
In the same letter the same opinion is
emphatically expressed as that OF all COM
petent Judges that the lines of the enemy
at Yorktown were too strong to be carried
by assault in the face of the force which
could be there assembled by Gen. Johnston.
The President, however, April 6, had ad
vised Gen. Mcclellan to "break the enc
"or oly r,u at
This advice was followed few days after
ward by letter in which the President
urged "sction" upon Gen. Mcclellan as ne
cessary to his (the generals popularity ir-
respective of any military reasons for or
against. To this General Mcclellan replied
that he could not possibly be influenced in
regard to his duty as commander by such
considerations. y3
At this time the whole force under the
orders of Gen. Mcclellan for operations on
the Peninsula amounted to8 900 efectiv YES,
the command of Gen. Wool being detached
and independent.
By the report of General Barnard it is
shown that the approaches to Yorktown
were "swept by forty-nine guns, nearly all
of which were heavy, but many OF them
the most formidable guns known, besides
that two thirds of the water batteries and
all the guns of Gloucester bore on our
right batteries, though under Disadvantage
GUS circumstances" "The line of the enc
my's works." added General Barnard, "is
certainly one of the most extensive known
to modern times" eff we could take
Yorktown, or drive the enemy cut Of that
place, the enemy's line would be no longer
tenable 1t was deemed too hazardous to
attempt the reduction of the place by
assault"
The details OF the seige of Yorktown are
given in the reports and journals of Briga-
dier General Barnard, Brigadier General
Barry, and Brigadier General Fitz John
Porter.
Early in the morning of May 4th infor-
nation was received that the enemy was
abandoning his works, and General McClel
Ian at once ordered his whole available
cavalry force, with four batteries of horse
artillery under General Stoneman, into
pursuit by the Williamsburg road, Gener
ais Heintzelman, Hooker, and Smith being
moved forward to support Stoneman.-
These were afterward followed up by the
divisions of Kearney, Couch, and Casey
General Sumner, second in command OF the
army, was then sent to the front to take
charge of the operations.
About two miles east of Williamsburg
General Stoneman came upon the enemy's
works, four miles in extent, nearly three
fourths of their front being covered by the
tributaries of Queens creek and College
creek. The main works were large fortih
cation called Fort Magruder and twelve
other r.doubts and epanlements for field
guns. The woods in the fort were felled
and the open ground dotted with rifle pits.
From this position the enemy opened lire
upon General Stoneman as his advance
guard debouched from the woods. General
Stoneman, having no infantry, was forced
to retire, but held the enemy in check with
great credit to his troops, until the arrival
Of General Sumner, with part OF General
Smiths division, at half past P. NJ. The
cross movement of this division, made ne
cessary by the impossible character OF the
road on which it had been moving, had de
layed the movement of General Hooker's
column between three and four hours; but
Heintzelman and Keyes reached Sumner
during the afternoon. Early in the morn
ing of the 5th Hooker came up. The
weather was excessively bad during. the
day of the 9TH, and the condition OF the
ground grew hourly worse.
General Hooker began the attack on the
enemy's works at 4 o'clock in the morn,
ing of the 9th, aud for q time s'lenced Fort
Magruder. But the enemy being heavily
reinforced attacked in his turn Hooker
lost seriously in men, FIVE of his guns were
taken, and between and A p. m, when bis
ammunition was giving outand his men with
it, Gen. Kearney came up, after pushing
with immense energy through the deep mud
and dense forest. Kearney drove the enc
back and saved Hooker. About p. m. of
the 7th Gen. Mcclellan, who bad remained
at Yorktown to move forward the whole
army, received information for the first
time that serious conflict was going ON in
IL Al