Existing comment:
The Tide Turns:
"Barrels of meat, sugar, coffee, whisky, turpentine... were added to the burning piles. Great, black volumes of smoke and cinders rolled upward and floated away high on the winds. Frequent explosions of ammunition added something of terror to the spectacle."
-- William H. Beach, 1st New York Cavalry, describing the destruction at Savage's Station
The sudden change in the campaign's momentum surprised the rank and file of the Army of the Potomac. As recently as June 27 bolder soldiers predicted they would be celebrating the 4th of July in the streets of Richmond. Just 48 hours later, the entire army was in a retreat south toward the James River. Optimism turned to disbelief, anger, or dismay.
The retreat began too suddenly for the army to save everything. The supply base at White House Landing was abandoned. McClellan concentrated no keeping his army intact. After a sharp fight at Savage's Station on June 29, the Federal army's rearguard embarked on a difficult all-night march, racing to get across White Oak Swamp and into the Glendale area before pursuing Confederates could block their path. This demoralizing state of affairs could have affected the Union army's fighting ability at Glendale and Malvern Hill.
It did not.
The southward march of McClellan's army -- seen here crossing Boar Swamp on its way to Glendale -- covered every possible road and required maximum discipline from the soldiers. Stragglers risked a trip to a Confederate prison in Richmond.
The army's advanced depot, at Savage's Station, went up in flames, millions of dollars of food, equipment, and war material destroyed due to lack of transportation.
The same problem prevented McClellan from evacuating the adjacent hospital. He left behind between 2,000 and 3,000 sick and wounded soldiers, unable to transport them to the James River. |