THE BATTLE OF MALVERN HILL, JULY 1, 1862
Malvern Hill was a very strong position taken by General McClellan in his retreat before the army of Lee. General Lee made furious and repeated assaults upon this well-nigh impregnable position, each time to meet an inevitable repulse, and in the end a defeat accompanied by severe losses, which necessitated his withdrawal to Richmond.
CHAPTER XVII.
ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 1861-1865.
WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1863.
The Military Situation in the West—Siege and Capture of Vicksburg—The Mississippi Opened—Battle of Chickamauga—"The Rock of Chickamauga"—The Battle Above the Clouds—Siege of Knoxville—General Hooker Appointed to the Command of the Army of the Potomac—His Plan of Campaign Against Richmond—Stonewall Jackson's Stampede of the Eleventh Corps—Critical Situation of the Union Army—Death of Jackson—Battle of Chancellorsville—Defeat of Hooker—The Second Confederate Invasion—Battle of Gettysburg—The Decisive Struggle of the War—Lee's Retreat—Subsequent Movements of Lee and Meade—Confederate Privateering—Destruction of the Nashville—Failure of the Attacks on Charleston—The Military Raids—Stuart's Narrow Escape—Stoneman's Raid—Morgan's Raid in Indiana and Ohio.
There were now such immense armies in the field and military operations were conducted on so vast a scale that the reader must carefully study the situation in order to gain an intelligent idea of the progress of the momentous events. We will give our attention first to operations in the West.
THE SITUATION IN THE WEST.
There were four Union armies in that section. The first was the one under Rosecrans, which, on the opening days of the year, won the victory at Murfreesboro' or Stone River, an account of which is given in the preceding chapter. The second was near Holly Springs, under General Grant; a third was in New Orleans, under General Banks, who had succeeded General Butler; and the fourth was in Arkansas. The main object of all these armies was to open the Mississippi. When that should be accomplished, the Confederacy would be split in two. Hundreds of thousands of beeves were drawn from Texas and the country beyond the Mississippi, and to shut off this supply would be one of the most effective blows that could be struck against the rebellion.