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[Illustration: Yours truly Charles Carleton Coffin (signature)]




  FOLLOWING THE FLAG
  FROM AUGUST 1861 TO NOVEMBER 1862
  WITH THE
  ARMY OF THE POTOMAC

  BY
  CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN

  AUTHOR OF "MY DAYS AND NIGHTS ON THE BATTLEFIELD," "BOYS OF '76,"
  "BOYS OF '61," "WINNING HIS WAY," ETC.

  NEW YORK
  HURST & COMPANY
  PUBLISHERS




  CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN SERIES
  UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME
  By CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN


  Following the Flag.
  Four Years of Fighting.
  My Days and Nights on the Battlefield.
  Winning His Way.


  _Price, postpaid, 50c. each, or any three books for $1.25_


  HURST & COMPANY
  PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK




PREFACE.


It will be many years before a complete history of the operations of
the armies of the Union can be written; but that is not a sufficient
reason why historical pictures may not now be painted from such
materials as have come to hand. This volume, therefore, is a sketch
of the operations of the Army of the Potomac from August, 1861, to
November, 1862, while commanded by General McClellan. To avoid detail,
the organization of the army is given in an Appendix. It has not been
possible, in a book of this size, to give the movements of regiments;
but the narrative has been limited to the operations of brigades and
divisions. It will be comparatively easy, however, for the reader
to ascertain the general position of any regiment in the different
battles, by consulting the Appendix in connection with the narrative.




CONTENTS.


  CHAPTER                                             PAGE
          Introductory                                   9

       I. Organization of the Army of the Potomac       11

      II. Ball's Bluff                                  22

     III. Battle of Dranesville, and the Winter of
          1862                                          38

      IV. Siege of Yorktown                             49

       V. Battle of Williamsburg                        65

      VI. On the Chickahominy                           82
          Affair at Hanover Court-House                 84

     VII. Fair Oaks                                     88

    VIII. Seven Days of Fighting                       108
          Battle of Mechanicsville                     111
          Battle of Gaines's Mills                     115
          Movement to James River                      121
          Battle of Savage Station                     123
          Battle of Glendale                           125
          Battle of Malvern                            131

      IX. Affairs in front of Washington               138
          Battle of Cedar Mountain                     140

       X. Battle of Groveton                           147
          The Retreat to Washington                    157

      XI. Invasion of Maryland                         158
          Barbara Frietchie                            160
          Battle of South Mountain                     165
          Surrender of Harper's Ferry                  171

     XII. Battle of Antietam                           175
          Hooker's Attack                              187
          Sumner's Attack                              194
          The Attack upon the Center                   206
          Richardson's Attack                          212
          General Franklin's Arrival                   216
          Burnside's Attack                            221

    XIII. After the Battle                             238

     XIV. The March from Harper's Ferry to
          Warrenton                                    250
          Removal of General McClellan                 269


APPENDIX.

     The Organization of the Army of the Potomac,
     April, 1862                                       278




LIST OF DIAGRAMS.

                                       PAGE
  Ball's Bluff                           29

  Battle of Dranesville                  41

  Battle of Williamsburg                 69

  Battle of Fair Oaks                    91

  Battle of Mechanicsville              112

  Battle of Gaines's Mills              116

  Battle of Glendale                    128

  Battle of Malvern                     134

  Battle of Groveton                    149

  Battle-Field of Antietam              180

  Sedgwick's Attack                     198

  French's and Richardson's Attack      208

  Burnside's Second Attack              232




INTRODUCTORY.


For more than three years I have followed the flag of our country
in the East and in the West and in the South,--on the ocean, on the
land, and on the great rivers. A year ago I gave in a volume entitled
"My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field" a description of the Battle
of Bull Run, and other battles in Kentucky, Tennessee, and on the
Mississippi.

It has been my privilege to witness nearly all the great battles fought
by the Army of the Potomac,--Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg,
at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, the North Anna, Coal Harbor and at
Petersburg. Letters have been received from those who are strangers to
me as well as from friends, expressing a desire that I should give a
connected account, not only of the operations of that army, from its
organization, but of other armies; also of the glorious achievements of
the navy in this great struggle of our country for national existence.
The present volume, therefore, will be the second of the contemplated
series.

During the late campaign in Virginia, many facts and incidents were
obtained which give an insight into the operations of the armies of the
South, not before known. Time will undoubtedly reveal other important
facts, which will be made use of in the future. It will be my endeavor
to sift from the immense amount of material already accumulated a
concise and trustworthy account, that we may know how our patriot
brothers have fought to save the country and to secure to all who may
live after them the blessings of a free government.




FOLLOWING THE FLAG.




CHAPTER I.

ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.


The battle of Bull Run, or of Manassas, as the Rebels call it, which
was fought on the 21st of July, 1861, was the first great battle of the
war. It was disastrous to the Union army. But the people of the North
were not disheartened by it. Their pride was mortified, for they had
confidently expected a victory, and had not taken into consideration
the possibility of a defeat. The victory was all but won, as has been
narrated in "My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field," when the arrival
of a brigade of Rebels and the great mistake of Captain Barry, who
supposed them to be Union troops, turned the scale, and the battle was
lost to the Union army.

But the people of the North, who loved the Union, could not think of
giving up the contest,--of having the country divided, and the old flag
trailed in the dust. They felt that it would be impossible to live
peaceably side by side with those who declared themselves superior to
the laboring men of the Free States, and were their rightful masters.
They were not willing to acknowledge that the slaveholders were their
masters. They felt that there could not be friendship and amity
between themselves and a nation which had declared that slavery was
its cornerstone. Besides all this, the slaveholders wanted Maryland,
Kentucky, and Missouri in the Southern Confederacy, while the majority
of the people of those States wanted to stay in the Union. The Rebels
professed that they were willing that each State should choose for
itself, but they were insincere and treacherous in their professions.
Kentucky would not join the Confederacy; therefore they invaded the
State to compel the people to forsake the old flag.

A gentleman from Ohio accompanied a Southern lady to Columbus, on the
Mississippi, to see her safely among her friends. General Polk was
commander of the Rebel forces at that place, and they talked about the
war.

"I wish it might be settled," said the General.

"How will you settle?"

"O, all we ask is to have all that belongs to us, and to be let alone."

"What belongs to you?"

"All that has always been acknowledged as ours."

"Do you want Missouri?"

"Yes, that is ours."

"Do you want Kentucky?"

"Yes, certainly. The Ohio River has always been considered as the
boundary line."

"But Kentucky don't want you."

"We must have her."

"You want all of Virginia?"

"Of course."

"You want Maryland?"

"Most certainly."

"What will you do with Washington?"

"We don't want it. Remove it if you want to; but Maryland is ours."[1]

  [Footnote 1: Ohio State Journal.]

Such was the conversation; and this feeling, that they must have
all the Slave States to form a great slaveholding confederacy, was
universal in the South.

Besides this, they held the people in the Free States in contempt. Even
the children of the South were so influenced by the system of slavery
that they thought themselves superior to the people of the Free States
who worked for a living.

I heard a girl, who was not more than ten years old, say that the
Northern people were all "old scrubs"! Not to be a scrub was to own
slaves,--to work them hard and pay them nothing,--to sell them, to
raise children for the market,--to separate mothers from their babes,
wives from their husbands,--to live solely for their own interests,
happiness, and pleasure, without regard to the natural rights of
others. This little girl, although her mother kept a boarding-house,
felt that she was too good to play with Northern children, or if she
noticed them at all, it was as a superior.

Feeling themselves the superiors of the Northern people, having been
victorious at Manassas, the people of the South became enthusiastic for
continuing the war. Thousands of volunteers joined the Rebels already
in arms. Before the summer of 1861 had passed, General Johnston had a
large army in front of Washington, which was called the Army of the
Potomac.

At the same time thousands rushed to arms in the North. They saw
clearly that there was but one course to pursue,--to fight it out,
defeat the Rebels, vindicate their honor, and save the country.

The Union army which gathered at Washington was also styled the Army
of the Potomac. Many of the soldiers who fought at Manassas were three
months' men. As their terms of service expired their places were filled
by men who enlisted for three years, if not sooner discharged.

General George B. McClellan, who with General Rosecrans had been
successfully conducting the war in Western Virginia, was called to
Washington to organize an army which, it was hoped, would defeat the
Rebels, and move on to Richmond.

The people wanted a leader. General Scott, who had fought at Niagara
and Lundy's Lane, who had captured the city of Mexico, was too old and
infirm to take the field. General McDowell, although his plan of attack
at Bull Run was approved, had failed of victory. General McClellan had
been successful in the skirmishes at Philippi and at Rich Mountain.
He was known to be a good engineer. He had been a visitor to Russia
during the Crimean war, and had written a book upon that war, which was
published by Congress. He was a native of Pennsylvania and a resident
of Ohio when the war broke out. The governors of both of those States
sent him a commission as a brigadier-general, because he had had
military experience in Mexico, and because he was known as a military
man, and because they were in great need of experienced men to command
the troops. Having all these things in his favor, he was called to
Washington and made commander of the Army of the Potomac on the 27th of
July.

He immediately submitted a plan of operations to the President for
suppressing the rebellion. He thought that if Kentucky remained loyal,
twenty thousand men moving down the Mississippi would be sufficient
to quell the rebellion in the West. Western Virginia could be held
by five or ten thousand more. He would have ten thousand protect the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Potomac River, five thousand
at Baltimore, twenty thousand at Washington, and three thousand at
Fortress Monroe. One grand army for active operations was needed, to
consist of two hundred and twenty-five thousand infantry, six hundred
pieces of field artillery, twenty-five thousand cavalry, and seven
thousand five hundred engineers, making a total of two hundred and
seventy-three thousand men. In his letter to the President, General
McClellan says: "I propose, with the force which I have requested, not
only to drive the enemy out of Virginia, and occupy Richmond, but to
occupy Charleston, Savannah, Montgomery, Pensacola, Mobile, and New
Orleans; in other words, to move into the heart of the enemy's country,
and crush the rebellion in its very heart."[2]

  [Footnote 2: General McClellan's Report, p. 4.]

It was found a very difficult matter to obtain arms for the soldiers;
for President Buchanan's Secretary of War, Floyd, had sent most of the
arms in Northern arsenals to the South before the war commenced. But,
notwithstanding this, so earnest were the people, and so energetic the
government, that on the 1st of October, two months from the time that
General McClellan took command, there were one hundred and sixty-eight
thousand men in the Army of the Potomac, with two hundred and twenty
pieces of artillery; besides this, the government had a large army
in Kentucky, and another in Missouri. The Rebels had large armies in
those States, and were making great efforts to secure them to the
Confederacy. It was not possible to send all the troops to Washington,
as General McClellan desired.

The Rebel army was commanded by General Joseph E. Johnston. He had
about seventy thousand men, with his headquarters at Manassas. Some
of the spies which were sent out by General McClellan reported a much
larger force under Johnston, and General McClellan believed that he
had one hundred and fifty thousand men. Strong fortifications were
erected to defend Washington; General Johnston wished very much to
take the city, and the people of the South expected that he would gain
possession of it and drive out the hated Yankees. He pushed his troops
almost up to General McClellan's lines, taking possession of Munson's
Hill, which is only five miles from the Long Bridge at Washington.

The Rebels erected breastworks upon the hill, and threw shot and shells
almost to Arlington House. From the hill they could see the spires of
the city of Washington, the white dome of the capitol, and its marble
pillars. No doubt they longed to have it in their possession; but there
were thousands of men in arms and hundreds of cannon and a wide river
between them and the city.

One bright October morning I rode to Bailey's Cross-roads, which is
about a mile from Munson's Hill. Looking across a cornfield, I could
see the Rebels behind their breastworks. Their battle-flags were waving
gayly. Their bayonets gleamed in the sunshine. A group of officers had
gathered on the summit of the hill. With my field-glass, I could see
what they were doing. They examined maps, looked towards Washington,
and pointed out the position of the Union fortifications. There were
ladies present, who looked earnestly towards the city, and chatted
merrily with the officers. A few days after, I saw in a Richmond paper
that the officers were Generals Lee, Beauregard, and Johnston, and that
one of the ladies was Mrs. Lee.

General Lee was within sight of his old home; but he had become a
traitor to his country, and it was to be his no more. Never again would
he sit in the spacious parlors, or walk the verdant lawn, or look upon
the beautiful panorama of city and country, forest and field, hill and
valley, land and water,--upon the ripened wheat on the hillside or the
waving corn in the meadows,--upon the broad Potomac, gleaming in the
sunshine, or upon the white-winged ships sailing upon its bosom,--upon
the city, with its magnificent buildings, upon the marble shaft rising
to the memory of Washington, or upon the outline of the hills of
Bladensburg, faint and dim in the distance.

He joined the rebellion because he believed that a state was more than
the nation, that Virginia was greater than the Union, that she had a
right to leave it, and was justified in seceding from it. He belonged
to an old family, which, when Virginia was a colony of Great Britain,
had influence and power. He owned many slaves. He believed that the
institution of slavery was right. He left the Union to serve Virginia,
resigned his command as colonel of cavalry, which he held under the
United States. He accepted a commission from Jefferson Davis, forswore
his allegiance to his country, turned his back upon the old flag,
proved recreant in the hour of trial, and became an enemy to the nation
which had trusted and honored him.

The summer passed away and the golden months of autumn came round. The
troops were organized into brigades and divisions. They were drilled
daily. In the morning at six o'clock the drummers beat the reveille.
The soldiers sprang to their feet at the sound, and formed in company
lines to answer the roll-call. Then they had breakfast of hard-tack
and coffee. After breakfast the guards were sent out. At eight o'clock
there were company drills in marching, in handling their muskets, in
charging bayonet, and resisting an imaginary onset from the enemy. At
twelve o'clock they had dinner,--more hard-tack, pork or beef, or rice
and molasses. In the afternoon there were regimental, brigade, and
sometimes division drills,--the men carrying their knapsacks, canteens,
haversacks, and blankets,--just as if they were on the march. At
sunset each regiment had a dress parade. Then each soldier was expected
to be in his best trim. In well-disciplined regiments, all wore white
gloves when they appeared on dress parade. It was a fine sight,--the
long line of men in blue, the ranks straight and even, each soldier
doing his best. Marching proudly to the music of the band, the light
of the setting sun falling aslant upon their bright bayonets, and the
flag they loved waving above them, thrilling them with remembrances of
the glorious deeds of their fathers, who bore it aloft at Saratoga,
Trenton, and Princeton, at Queenstown and New Orleans, at Buena Vista
and Chapultepec, who beneath its endearing folds laid the foundations
of the nation and secured the rights of civil and religious liberty.
Each soldier felt that he would be an unworthy son, if traitors