. Hill and Longstreet moved rapidly so as to interpose between our
army and Richmond, and to be able to strike us on the flank; two other
divisions followed on the Charles City road, and Jackson, with his
corps, moved down the bank of the Chickahominy, threatening our rear.

To resist any attack from these approaching columns, Sumner's and
Heintzelman's corps, and our Second division of the Sixth corps, were
formed in line of battle before Savage's Station.

For hours our division, with Sumner's corps, stood in the open field
watching the enemy. Heintzelman withdrew his corps and left Sumner and
Smith to stem the tide that was destined to pour upon us. It seems to
have been the impression of General Heintzelman, who had listened with
credulity to the stories of the immense superiority of the enemy in
numbers, that all hope of resisting the power of Lee's army was gone,
and that there remained nothing for us but to make the best of our way
to the James river without stopping to give the enemy battle.

In the view that there was no safety but in retreat, he was guided by
the opinion of the Commander-in-Chief, who had no thought of any further
resistance than should suffice to bring the men and as much of the
material of the army as could be brought by the teams across the
Peninsula. Not so the old war horse Sumner. He would gladly have
attempted, a few hours later, to have "pushed the rebels into the
Chickahominy," had not his application for help been answered from
beyond White Oak Swamp, "The rear-guard will follow the retreat of the
main body of the army." If there was no hope for the army but rapid
retreat, then it was right for Heintzelman to leave the road clear; for
as it was, with only Sumner's corps and our own division, the road was
packed so full that the men could scarcely march. But if there was an
opportunity of inflicting great injury upon the rebels, as Sumner
believed there was, then we are not surprised at the amazement of the
veteran when he discovered, the battle having commenced, that one corps
had left the line altogether. We were now as near our new base of
supplies as the rebels were to theirs, and here we had enough to last
the army many days. We were, as they had been, on the defensive; and we
had the advantage in position. But there was nothing left for those now
on the line but to make the best resistance possible under the
circumstances, and then fall back to the banks of the James.

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