CHAPTER V.
ROUND ABOUT RICHMOND.
The Defences of the Confederate Capital—Army of Northern Virginia at Centreville—Aggressive Action—Council with the President and Secretary of War—Mr. Davis’s High Opinion of McClellan—Operations on the Peninsula—Engagements about Yorktown and Williamsburg—Severe Toil added to the Soldiers’ Usual Labors by a Saturated Soil.
Apropos of the attack upon Richmond, apprehended in the winter of 1861-62, it should be borne in mind that there were four routes supposed to be practicable for the advance of the enemy:
1. The original route by Manassas Junction and the Orange and Alexandria Railroad.
2. By crossing the Potomac near Potomac Creek, thence by Fredericksburg to Richmond.
3. By land,—the shortest,—to go down the Potomac to the Lower Rappahannock, landing at or near Urbana, and thence march for the Confederate capital.
4. By transports to Fortress Monroe, thence by the Peninsula, between the James and York Rivers.
General McClellan’s long delay to march against General Johnston, when he was so near and accessible at Centreville, indicated that he had no serious thought of advancing by that route. To prepare to meet him on either of the other routes, a line behind the Rapidan was the chosen position.
General Beauregard had been relieved of duty in Virginia and ordered West with General A. S. Johnston.