This withdrawal compelled Meade to give up his purpose, and he remained on the defensive. By-and-by, when the troops were returned to him, he prepared once more to advance, but Lee anticipated him by an effort to pass around his right flank and interpose between him and Washington. Crossing the Rapidan on the 9th of October, he moved swiftly to Madison Court-House, without detection by Meade, who did not learn of it until the next day, when his outpost was attacked and driven back on the main army at Culpeper. This was proof that the Union right flank had been turned, and Meade immediately started his trains toward the Rappahannock, following a few hours later with his army. On the further side of Bull Run, he fortified himself so strongly that Lee saw it was useless to advance further, and, on the 18th of October, he returned to the line of the Rappahannock.
Meade started for Richmond on the 7th of November. The Confederates were found occupying earthworks on the north of the Rappahannock. An impetuous assault drove them out and across the river. Meade pushed on to Culpeper, and Lee hurriedly retreated across the Rapidan.
Meade's judgment was that no further advance should be made, but the clamor of the North forced him to try another of the many attempts to capture Richmond. He crossed the river on the 26th and 27th of November, his aim being to divide the Confederate army by a rapid march on Orange Court-House. But it seemed as if the flood-gates of heaven were then opened. The rain fell in torrents day and night, and the country became a sea of mud and water. Bridges had to be laid to connect different portions of the army, and all offensive movements were for a while out of the question. The delay gave Lee time to form his troops into a compact mass, so that when the Unionists were ready to attack, it was so evident that another Fredericksburg massacre would follow that the plan was abandoned.
In truth, Lee felt so strong that he was disposed to advance himself, but was dissuaded by the belief that some blunder of the Union commander would give him a better opportunity, but Meade was too wise to do so. On the 1st of December he returned to his old quarters on the Rapidan. The weather had become extremely cold, and both armies went into winter quarters.
The principal military movements of this year have now been described, but it remains to tell of the operations on the seacoast and of the leading military raids.
PRIVATEERING.
The Confederates displayed great activity and ingenuity in the construction of ironclads and in running the blockade. Their vessels continually dodged in and out of a few of the leading ports, the principal one being Wilmington, North Carolina. The profits in a single cargo of a blockade-runner were so enormous that the owners were enriched by several successful voyages, while a single one would reimburse them for the loss of their ship. Under such circumstances it was no wonder that they took desperate chances, and firms were organized who paid liberal salaries to the officers of vessels, who advertised among their friends the regular dates of their departure, and, the worst of it was, they were very regular in keeping them.
The Alabama and other privateers were busy on the ocean, and the Confederates strained every nerve to send others to sea. The Nashville was a fine steamer that was in the Ogeechee River, Georgia, waiting for a chance to slip out and join the commerce destroyers. She had a valuable cargo of cotton, and the Federal cruisers were alert to prevent her escape. They would have gone up the river after her, but there were too many torpedoes waiting for them, and the guns of Fort McAllister were too powerful.
Captain Worden, of the old Monitor, was now in command of the Montauk, and he was delighted on the night of February 27th to observe the Nashville lying stuck fast in shallow water above Fort McAllister. The opportunity was too tempting to be neglected, and the next morning, despite a hot attack from the fort, he fired into the Nashville until she broke into flames and soon after blew up.
FAILURE OF THE ATTACKS ON CHARLESTON.