thern captain attacked and overwhelmed each in turn.
The alarm at Washington was great, and McDowell hastened to cut him off,
only to discover that Jackson had slipped past him and was back in his
own country. Meanwhile McClellan, left without the reinforcements he had
expected, was attacked by Lee and beaten back in seven days' consecutive
fighting right to Harrison's Landing, where he could only entrench
himself and stand on the defensive. Richmond was as far off as ever.

One piece of good news, however, reached Washington at about this time,
and once again it came from the West. Towards the end of April Farragut,
the American admiral, captured the city of New Orleans. The event was
justly thought to be of great importance, for Grant already dominated
the Upper Mississippi, and if he could join hands with a Union force
operating from the mouth of the great river, the Confederacy would be
cut in two.

Perhaps the contrast between the good fortune which had attended the
Federal arms in the West and the failure of the campaign in Eastern
Virginia was responsible for the appointment of a general taken from the
Western theatre of war to command the army of the Potomac. Lincoln,
having supported McClellan as long as he could, was now obliged to
abandon his cause, and General Pope was appointed to supreme command of
the campaign in Eastern Virginia.

The change brought no better fortune; indeed, it was the prelude to a
disaster worse than any that McClellan had suffered. Pope advanced by
the route of the original invasion, and reached exactly the point where
McDowell's army had been routed. Here he paused and waited. While he lay
there Jackson made another of his daring raids, got between him and
Washington and cut his communications, while Lee fell upon him and
utterly destroyed his army in the second battle of Bull Run.

Lee's victory left him in full possession of the initiative, with no
effective force immediately before him and with a choice of objectives.
It was believed by many that he would use his opportunity to attack
Washington. But he wisely refrained from such an attempt. Washington was
guarded by a strong garrison, and its defences had been carefully
prepared. To take it would involve at least something like a siege, and
while he was reducing it the North would have the breathing space it
needed to rally its still unexhausted powers. He proposed to himself an
alternative, which, if he had been right in his