t and conduct of Lee when with half the numbers he
assaulted Hooker, and afterward Grant, in the Wilderness.

McClellan's army being astraddle the Chickahominy, two courses of action
were open to him when he was attacked.

He might have concentrated on the north side of the river, leaving a
sufficient force to guard the bridges in his rear, and then assumed a
strong defensive position. Having abandoned Beaver Dam he withdrew to
Gaines' Mill,--a place most favorable for defense,--still having 60,000
men in striking distance across the river. If instead of vacating that
position, or suffering a portion of his army to be driven from it, he
had reenforced it by a half of those unoccupied 60,000 men, I do not
believe he could have been dislodged by all the valor and dash of the
Confederate army.

The other line of action that he might have chosen was to concentrate on
the southern side of the river, destroy the bridges, and then crushing
the small army of Magruder, make a quick attack upon Richmond, while
the forces of Lee and Jackson were on the other side. It seems to me
that either course would have been better and nobler than the inglorious
retreat to Harrison's Landing. It appeared that Lee was gaining victory
after victory; but until the battle of Malvern Hill he was fighting only
portions of McClellan's forces. In that engagement alone did the Union
army contend with its undivided strength, and there it gained a victory.
If it could hold its ground there after having suffered many losses,
could it not much better have repulsed the Confederates at Gaines' Mill?

When the First Brigade advanced to the charge at Gaines' Mill, on the
27th of June, it emerged out of a wood into a large field, which
declined toward a ravine through which a stream of water ran, and on the
other side of which the ground rose somewhat precipitously to a
considerable altitude. It had been wisely chosen for defense, and the
opposite high ground was lined with infantry and crowned with
batteries. As it was impossible to dislodge the enemy until some
diversion should be created on one of his flanks, our men lay prone upon
the ground, while bullets and shells hurtled among us and above us. At
length seeing a brigade on our left rapidly advancing where the enemy's
position was less formidable, we rose up and, with the inspiring "rebel
yell," ran down the slope, crossed the little creek, clambered up the
hill, and poured a volley into the retiring