Following the Flag, from August 1861 to November 1862, with the Army of the Potomac

by Charles Carleton Coffin

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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.

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NEW YORK
HURST & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

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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

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[PREFACE.]

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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.

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[CONTENTS.]

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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]