ken the whole command."[1]

[Footnote 1: Report of the Committee on the Conduct of the War, part
i., p. 580.]

Such was the condition of that great army which had fought so bravely,
standing firm so long against the headlong assaults of the flower
of the Southern troops. It was the battle at Cold Harbor which had
produced this state of things, thereby really deciding the result
of the campaign. To attribute to that action, therefore, no more
importance than attached to the engagements on the retreat to James
River, seems in opposition to the truth of history.

We shall present only a general narrative of the famous retreat which
reflected the highest credit upon General McClellan, and will remain
his greatest glory. He, at least, was too good a soldier not to
understand that the battle of the 27th was a decisive one. He
determined to retreat, without risking another action, to the banks
of the James River, where the Federal gunboats would render a second
attack from the Confederates a hazardous undertaking; and, "on the
evening of the 27th of June," as he says in his official report,
"assembled the corps commanders at his headquarters, and informed
them of his plan, its reasons, and his choice of route, and method of
execution." Orders were then issued to General Keyes to move with his
corps across the White-Oak Swamp Bridge, and, taking up a position
with his artillery on the opposite side, cover the passage of the rest
of the troops; the trains and supplies at Savage Station, on the
York River Railroad, were directed to be withdrawn; and the corps
commanders were ordered to move with such provisions, munitions,
and sick, as they could transport, on the direct road to Harrison's
Landing.

These orders were promptly carried out. Before dawn on the 29th the
Federal army took up the line of march, and the great retrograde
movement was successfully begun. An immense obstacle to its success
lay in the character of the country through which it was necessary to
pass. White Oak Swamp is an extensive morass, similar to that skirting
the banks of the Chickahominy, and the passage through it is over
narrow, winding, and difficult roads, which furnish the worst possible
pathways for wagons, artillery, or even troops. It was necessary,
however, to use these highways or none, and General McClellan
resolutely entered upon his critical movement.

General Lee was yet in doubt as to his opponent's designs, and the
fact is highly