have been a serious attack; if it was the latter, why was so large a portion of the troops kept idle during the whole of the day? Again, for what purpose were the feints made of crossing the river on the 20th? They do not seem to have been intended to conceal any real attempt to do so, as the passage was not effected until the 21st. The absence of a proper staff and of the proper chain of responsibility was one of the great causes of failure at Ball's Bluff, as at Bull Run. The general was not informed of the action of the inferior commanders, and among the latter a want of decision and of commanding authority was apparent after the death of Colonel Baker. The miserable system of making war on pickets, and of individual enterprises on the part of commanders of companies and regiments, was partially the cause of the reverse. It does not appear by whose orders Colonel Devens was sent in the middle of the night, in a wooded country, to surprise a camp that had no existence except in the imagination of a patrol; the only result of the expedition was to give warning to the enemy, and so to allow time for him to concentrate his force, and to attack the Federals on the bank of the river before they were ready to advance. The troops seem to have shown little courage or enterprise; those opposed to them were not superior in numbers, were not so well armed, and were totally unprovided with artillery. The loss sustained in killed and wounded was during and owing to the flight to the river, and that in prisoners consequent on the impossibility of re-crossing it. Altogether the affair at Ball's Bluff was not creditable to those who were engaged in it. There were, without doubt, instances of individual courage. Colonel Baker especially distinguished himself; he was a man

much respected by Mr. Lincoln and by many of the leading men of the Government; by his own exertions he had risen from a very low station in life to be senator for Oregon, and he met his death in endeavouring to infuse into his men the courage which he himself felt.

On the side of the Confederates, General Evans handled his men well. Uncertain from what point the attack would be made, he prepared to meet it either from Drainesville or from the Potomac, and held the 7th brigade well in hand, concentrated in a central position. The general was well supported by the men and officers under his command, and the result was a complete victory. The prisoners were sent under escort to Manassas. Exchanges of prisoners were now virtually sanctioned by both Governments, and they, as well as the wounded on either side, were treated with consideration. The surgeons who had remained in charge of the Federal wounded after the battle of Bull Run refuted, on their return to Washington, the absurd and false reports circulated by the Federal press regarding the inhumanity of the enemy. For a considerable time after the battle of Ball's Bluff, no movement was made by either army in Virginia. The rain and cold of the winter months, and their necessary accompaniments of impassable roads and swollen rivers, became a bar to offensive operations, even if the Federal general had been willing or ready to undertake them: whilst the extensive works around Washington rendered any attack on the Capitol by the Confederates hopeless. President Lincoln added to his list of generals; among others raised to that rank were Captain Meade of the Topographical engineers, Colonel Casey, also of the regula@army, A. M'Cook, R. Milroy, all of

whose names were to become known during the future campaigns of the war. A strong foreign element pervaded the army; military adventurers of all sorts flocked to Washington. It was even alleged that General Garibaldi * had offered his services to the Federal Government, should the contest have the freedom of the slaves for its object; but on his receiving Mr. Seward's reply that such was not the case, the offer was not repeated. Later in the year there were skirmishes on the Upper Potomac, in which there was much firing with little loss to either side. Colonel Kelly made a successful reconnaissance as far as Romney, on the south branch of the Potomac, and with the loss of one killed and a few wounded drove the Confederates from the town, capturing some guns and commissariat wagons. General Ord likewise, at Drainesville on the Leesburg Road, encountered and defeated a body of Confederates under General Stewart. On the other hand, General Milroy attempted to advance from his position on the Cheat Mountains in Western Virginia, and was driven back by the Confederate troops under Colonel Johnston, stationed on the Staunton Turnpike. These isolated expeditions were productive of no results commensurate with the loss of life and the suffering they occasioned to the inhabitants of the country; they may, perhaps, have served to train the troops, and to prevent them from incurring the evil effects of idleness in camp, but in determining the result of the war they had no influence. The command of the army had virtually been in the hands of General M'Clellan for some months, although General Scott was nominally the commander-in-chief; but the latter general's age and

* Semi-official notification which appeared in the American papers.

infirmities rendered him unable to fulfil the increasing duties of the office, and on October 31 he sent in his resignation. A special cabinet council was convened for the purpose of taking the subject into consideration, and on the following day the resignation was accepted, and General Scott's name was permitted to be placed on the list of retired officers, without reduction in the pay or allowance he had enjoyed. Complimentary orders were issued to the army, both by the President and by General M'Clellan, setting forth the great services that the retiring general had performed towards his country. He had served in his youth in Canada, and had commanded the American army in the Mexican campaign; for many years he had been the idol of his countrymen, but had outlived his popularity and his influence. A new generation had sprung up, and a war commenced on a scale which completely threw into the shade the campaigns in which he had been engaged. On General Scott's retirement, the command of the army devolved on General M'Clellan ; and it was no light task which he undertook. The army, as stated by the Secretary of War,* consisted of upwards of 640,600 volunteers and 20,000 regular troops, and this vast force was unprovided with the proper channels of responsibility, and required not only to be commanded, but even to be constructed. General M'Clellan was directed to make his head-quarters at Washington, and from thence he had to superintend the movements of the armies at a distance, as well as to watch over details of discipline in the force around Washington-details which in European armies are generally left to the supervision of subordinates.

Secretary of War's report to Congress, December 6, 1861.

CHAPTER VIII.

CAMPAIGN IN MISSOURI AND KENTUCKY.

PREVIOUS to General M'Clellan's appointment to the command of the army, important events had occurred in Missouri. The battle of Wilson's Creek gave to General Price the command of the south-western portion of the State, leaving the northern and eastern districts, together with the course of the Missouri River, under the nominal jurisdiction of General Fremont, the Federal commander in the West. Nominal it may be said to have been, as through the length and breadth of Missouri guerillas and partisan leaders roamed, pillaged, and made war for and against the cause of the Union, unrestrained either by civil law or the discipline of armies. In view of the unsettled condition of the State; General Fremont issued a proclamation, on August 30, declaring martial law, and condemning all persons found in arms within what he termed the lines of the army of occupation to trial by courts-martial, and, if found guilty, to be shot. The property, real and personal, of those who either had or should take up arms against the United States was adjudged to be confiscated to public use, and their slaves declared free men. The lines of occupation were laid down as extending from Leavenworth, by way of Jefferson city, Rolla, and Irontown, to Cape Girardeau on the