Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-20
on the federal. were the divisions of whiting.

/ part OF EwclTs were held in reserve Whiting
7 faced the Union position from the north on
their extreme left, then brigade OF Eweirs
Joined on Writings right. with d. II. Hills
troops prolonging the confederate line further
: 70 the west The line here trpndei around
toward the sonth. with two briEades Of Huger's
and al Magruder's division. carrying their line
well around the fedcrals to the southwest
Along this entire front OF perhaps two miles
tho attacking lines had 20 move over open
ground. up gradual ascent. u distance vary
Ing from quarter 20 three-fourths of a mile.
before they could reach the federals. whose
lines were br:stliug with artillery.
The entire Union army was in battle array
on these heights in II semi-circle. with the
nght1ng face generally toward the north and
northwest. The right. bending around to the
south at ilaxalfs. facing east and northeast.
Was the weEkest Part of the line, and timber
wns slashcd on this front to impede rebel
advance. ~ the western end the position was
naturally stronger. aud to the southwest was
well protected by low. swamry land. difiicult
for troops to operate in Gen. k.yes held the
right with Fycs's division. and WAS not
mOlcsted. Next his lef.. toward the west.
was Gen. Tranklin's two divisions; then came
Summers two divisions: then Heintzelmans
two and on the extreme left was Porter's corps.
with COUGHS division of Reyes connecting
him with Gen. Heintzelman. Here MOrell's
and Couch's divisions we're III front with Sykes
and McCalPs divisions IN support. Warren's
brigade was on the left. down In the valley.
! watching the river road toward Richmond. All
the reserve artillery. mostly heavy guns. was
posted on this line the attack being antici-
pated from this direction. But batteries
1 frowucd upon the enemy all along the heights.
The position practically impreSnable.
About 10 n. III. the enemy began 20 feel along
| the Union front for positions from which to
attach. About p. m u heavy artillery fire
was opened on kearny and Couch, and the
| latter was attacked with infantry. This was
! REFUSED by a voiley from CJuch's men. who
were lying down until the confederetes were
within Gunshot. when they rose suddenly and
poured in destructive fire. In this affair the
federal line was advanced about 500 yards and
secured better ground. The range for the
Union artillery WIS magnificent, and its play
was very effective. After this there was a lull
for two hours. but about p. m. the enemy
opened again with many guns on Porter aud
Couch. followed by general advance of his
infantry, which formed in the woods and
charged at a run over the open ground. The
tremendous artillery fire and the steady volleys
of Union mushetry sent these charging columns
Keeling back to the woods. But their efforts
were desperately repeated time and again. and
in some places the cOniederates for a time held
ground close up to the Union lines, but in no
instance did they make any impression Oh
those lines. Ii a series of bloody repulses
ali along Morelrs and Coueh's 'front.' part of
which hqd been relieved by Sickles' and
Meagher's brigades, until darkness set in,
when the muskery gradually died away, but
the artillery continued to below until ..
The coufederates making these fierce charges
were ID. II. Hills, projected principally agGins:
Couch. and those OF Magruder and Huger
against Morell. MaGruder made several des-
p-rate attempts to storm the hill at Crews
house. Lee reports. ''raked by hundred
cannon" OF course they failed but Lee claims
chat some OF the federal batteries were forced
to retire. 1t may be. bu; altogether it seems
10 have been generally easy and sure work for
the federas.
Malvern Hill was very much such battle to
Lee Fredericksburg was to the federals. only
the confederate attackS here not SO long
maintained rs those Of the federal Gen.
Burnside at Fredericksburg. the con-
fcderate reports. read between the lines. all
confirm the disastrous nature of their attacks,
which were not Simultaneous, the signal for
which an unusual one--was not heard or
understood. 1t wds as follows:
July l. 1862.
Gen. Magruder:
Batteries have been established to rake the
enemys line. II IT Is broaen. is probable.
Armlstead, who can witness the effect of the
fire. has been ordered 20 charge with yell
Do the same
BIZ order OF Gen Lee.
L. III. Chiffon. A. A. G.
1t is hardly probable the federal line could
have been broken under the most favorable
circumstances. but II seems clear the confed-
crate army was not handled judiciously. In
truth. one might readily imagine that the two
armies had temporarily exchanged command
ers. as well policies. Perhaps, too. the
enemy were not quite so hungry for tight after
the lesson o: Gaines Mill. Magruder reported
to Lee, after the fight was over. that not an
organized body existed in his command.
The real battle lasted only abou; two hours.
The attacking columns numbered perhaps 40
COO men Less than 1000 federals easily re-
PEELED their assaults. sumner, Heintzelman.
Heres and Franklin not engaging. In some
instances the artillery alone stopped the
enemy. The Union loss at Malvern was only
2,4SJ killed and wounded. and rs missing;
total. 3.2Ii By apprOximating from minor
reports the confederate loss fOots up about
5.:335. nearly all killed and wounded Gen.
McClellans total loss for the week. including
ali the battles. only l5si9-l.734 killed.
S.06l wounded and 6.053 captured missing
The coufe derate losses during the same period
were 20.6li-3.475 killed. 16.26l wounded and
only S75 missing. Their losses in killed and
wounded were just about double those of the
federais.
TO HAREIsoS's LANDING.
The night following Malvern Mcclellan re-
treated still further down the river TO Harri-
sons landing. which he had previously deter
mined upon as MS future base of operations
in consultation with the naval officers then in
the James. Here he was not attacked. After
observing him for about six weeks. Lee turned
his attention to Pope. Thus ended the PENN
I sular campaign, IN every battle of which, save
that OF Gaines Mill. the federals won vic
tories. INJECTING on their enemy double their
own loss. and yet retrea:ing after every victory
a. II i; were a defeat. The federal troops were
evidently al. right. One does hot have to
search tar to find the cause of failure in this
campaign. Had Gen. Mcclellan but repaid his
army with the confidence and implicit faith
that army placed IN him all would have been
we'll. and his name would now be shining on
the pages OF history a military hero.
In his Official report. written long after these
events. and also In his testimony before the
committee on the conduct of the war. McClel-
Ian put forth the positive claim that if Nc
DOwell with his $4,000 men. had been per
united 10 join HIM he would have taken Rich
mond Yet he never figured the rebel force
in his front at less than his own. and from that
up to 100000. 1t Is hard to conceive how he
expected TO capture Richmond with such a
! force defending 1t wh-n with a relative
strength in his favor far greater he had failed
20 break Magru'ler's lines at Yorktown or de-
cisiyely beat Johnston "a; Fair Oaks.