A. M., it is not probable the Commanding General knew it.
Nor did he know, that, at this very moment, the enemy was retreating to
Richmond in a "state of disorganization and dismay." Besides, the troops
of the left wing had fought a hard battle the preceding afternoon, and
they had been up all night, throwing up works of defence, and making
dispositions to resist another assault by the enemy. They were not in a
condition to assume the offensive against an enemy who was supposed to
be in force and in position, himself preparing to resume the attack of
the previous day, however competent they may have been to pursue a
demoralized foe flying from the field. The propitious moment was lost,
not to return,--for, during the day, the rising flood rendered all the
bridges, except the railroad-bridge, impassable.

The necessity for more substantial bridges to connect the two wings of
the army had now been made manifest, and two fine structures, available
for all arms, were completed by the nineteenth. At the same time two
foot-bridges were made, the other bridges repaired, and their approaches
made secure, though the enemy still held the approaches of the three
upper bridges on the right bank.

While these bridges were being made, mostly by the right wing of the
army, the left wing was engaged in constructing a strong line of
defence, stretching from the White-Oak Swamp to the Chickahominy,
consisting of six redoubts connected by rifle-pits or barricades.
General Barnard says,--"The object of these lines (over three miles
long) was to hold our position of the left wing against the concentrated
force of the enemy, until communications across the Chickahominy could
be established; or, if necessary, to maintain our position on this side,
while the bulk of the army was thrown upon the other, should occasion
require it; or, finally, to hold one part of our line and communication
by a small force, while our principal offensive effort was made upon
another." At the same time, several batteries were constructed on the
left bank of the river in the neighborhood of the upper bridges, either
to operate on the enemy's positions in their front, or to defend these
bridges.

All these preparations were made with the understood purpose of driving
the enemy from his positions in front of New Bridge; and they appear to
have been about completed, for on the night of the twenty-sixth "an
epaulement for putting our guns in position" to effect this