Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1906 edition. Excerpt: ... chapter vi operations on the peninsula, 1862 the Confederate forces occupying the Peninsula between James and York rivers, at that time were under the command of General J. B. Magruder. A line of defense had been established from Yorktown across the Peninsula to the Warwick and James rivers. General Magruder had under his command about eleven thousand men. General McClellan, then in command of the Federal Army of the Potomac, had abandoned the old route by way of Manassas and transferred his army to the Peninsula with the purpose of advancing upon Richmond by that route, with his base of supplies on York River. He advanced his army up the Peninsula from Fortress Monroe, and on the 4th of April appeared in front of the line occupied by the Confederates. This line of defense was a very strong one, but General Magruder, who knew of McClellan's change of base, when he realized the presence of the enemy in such overwhelming numbers, called lustily for reinforcements. The defense put up by General Magruder before he was reinforced was one of the most heroic of the war. In his report of this siege he says: From the 4th of April till the 3d of May this army served almost without relief in the trenches. Many companies of artillery were never relieved during this long period. It rained almost incessantly; the trenches were filled with water. No fires could be allowed. The artillery and infantry of the enemy general magrudeb 51 played upon our men almost continuously, day and night. The army had neither coffee, sugar, nor hard bread, but subsisted on flour and salt meats, and these in reduced quantities, and yet no murmurs were heard. The best drilled regulars the world has ever seen would have mutinied under a continuous service of twenty-nine d
