The National tribune., 1907-09-12

of retreat, sand not only crumbled tn
fierce ffrontj he was presenting to Han
cock. but probably have captured tn
e larger ,pordan of the Confederate Gen
: erals army.
S The compilation of the reports o
e the losses show that the battle was
u fierce'0ne. GThere were % officers ans
t 429 men killed. 9S officers and 1,31.
men wounded, and two officers and 81.
+ men missing: making a total loss o
: 2.2S9. The heaviest loss was suffered
i by thel70thoN. Y, which had seven Off
GERS and 121men killed, 3 officers anf
125 men wdunded and 113 missing. L
sustained this loss in holding alone az
t advanced position upon which the enc.
my concentrated. finally crushing the
regiment and taking it's Colonel and .
number of its men prisoners. These
had stubbornly remained after theii
ammunition was exhausted, meeting tht
. enemy with the bayonet. Out of 81
commissioned officers who went into the
battle % were killed or wounded. The
next severest loss was sustained by the
I2d n. Y, which had two officers and
SO men killed. six officers and "a men
wolnded and 46 captured. 1t had also
: held its position on the front against
superior numbers until. after four hours
of fighting, it's ammunition was ex-
hausted. and it suiienly withdrew.
Another S--iIfuI Retreat.
i Another surprise came to the army
on the morning of May 6, when it was
discovered that Johnston had made
still another of his Skilful retreats. A.
usual, Mcclellan and his officers were
In tense expectation of an attack in the
morning, ard Heintzelman, whose men
had been SO Savagely fought, sent i'm
Fortunate messages during the night
for strong reiIforcements, and for roads
20 ta cut thru the timber by which help
could be seat him. He felt that Hook
er's Division had been 50 cut up as TO
be of little value in stemmiDg the on
slaught he feared. In his dispatch 20
| Washington Mcclellan had said:
u find Joe Johnston in front of me
in strong force, probably greater, a
good deal, than my own.
Shall run the risk of at leas: holding
| thsEl in check here, While / resume my
original plan. My entire force is un-
| douhtediy considerably inferior to that
of the rebels. who still fight well. hat
l will do al ;hat l can with the force
at my disposal"
Toward morning Heintzelnans ap
pTehensions were relieved by some ne
grOS coming thru tna lines and report
ing the enemy evacuating. Gems Berry
and jameson sent out scouts, who
| found the works in their front aban~
doned
There was no attempt at pursuit The
tCommissary and QuarteTTnaster servicr
| had utterly broken down. The men
were without rations blankets tents or
| ammunition. The wagons were in a
| seemingly hopeless tangle all the Wy
back to Yorktown. Many of the rcgi-
ments had had nothing 10 eat since
they left camp beyond Yorktown. and
none had any shelter from the pouring
rain: Hospitals had 10 be estabisheJ
for the sick and wounded and tine hun
dreds of wounded the Ccnfede=ates ha,!
| left, ard the Surgeons transportation
was in as bad shape as the rest.
| 1t required three precious days t.
| make a reorganization, and Johnston
made the ricst. of the time gained.
1t is eloquent of the condition OF the
ads at that time that wncn the army
= advance it found five guns whic.
I'D been abandoned, because they werr
.opelessIy mired. In one case the horses
/ had sunk down until only their heads
appeared above the mud II McCleI-
Ian had pushed forward his cavalry ii
must have reaped rich spoils. AS usual!
| Stoneman was inert.
Frnnkiin's FeebIeness.
Mcclellan had relied upon the force
| which he had sent up the York River
under Franklin. The road upon which
| the ConfeaerateS retreated runs paral-
| lei and rcloSe TO the York River to
| White HoTse. on the Pamunhey, and
| they could have been easily headed of
there. McCleiisn's plan was al excel
lent one, bur unfortunately it was start
| ed TOO late, and then but fecbly exc
cuted. Gen. Franklin, who was one Of
McClei!an'5 prime faVorites, was pat IL
command, and there began that aston
ishi1s waste CT great opporrunitiea
which characterized that much-promis-
lag soldiers war record. In aduition
! TO his own division, Franklin had SedS-
wick's and some other troops. all car
ried on the vessels which had brought
the army from Alexandria, and con-
voyed by gunboats. he had men enough
TO have efectually blocked LonSstreet's
retreat TO the Chickahominy, and pos
sibiy captured him.
After fdnting for two weeks to finG
some place to land his men and attack
Gloucester, Franklin had been ordered
up the river upon the discovery of the
evacuation of Yorktown. He lef;
Cheeseman's Creek on the morning of
May 5, arrived at Yorktown that day,
ard the next day started up York Riv-
er. reaching West Point in the night
Then he began leisurely reconnois-
sance, and by 10 Il. m, May Z, had a
large portion of his command ashore,
with the artillery in position. Instead
of pushing boldly out across the Con-
fedeyate line of retreat, as Johnston
and Long5treet had feared, he began
quakings as TO his being attacked. He
posted Newton's, Taylor's and Slocums
Brisades of his division and Sedgwick )
Division in a good defensive position.
and waited the assault Johnston had
sent Whiting and J. B. Hood with one
brigade and Hampton's Legion, to hold
Franklin off his line of retreat, and
Hood takes not a little justifiabe pride
in the way he reduced Franklin to
quiescence. He claims that he drove
Franklin back one and a half miles,
ito the protection of his gunboats, cap
tured 40 prisoners and 81 stand of
arms, and then, at 2:30 p. m, accord
ing to Instructions, gathered up the
killed and wounded. and returned in
perfect order to the bivouac L left in
the morning"
Franklin reports his loss at 4S killed,
10 wounded and IS missing.
Gen. Whiting, who was in command
of the division to which Hood belonged,
reports his loss at eight killed and 81
wounded. He says that by Hoods at
tack "the large baggage, ordnance and
artillery train was quietly and success
fully moved, in perfect order within
three-quarters of a mile of 10000 of