Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/323

Rh these numerous Federal batteries swept the entire front. This part of the Federal line was less than a mile long, and nearly the whole of McClellan's great army was placed within this mile of frontage and a half mile back of it.

Just in the rear of this formidable battle array, the road to Harrison's landing, the point on the James to which McClellan was retreating, diverged to the southeastward from the Quaker road and from the Malvern ridge. At right angles to his main line and extending southward from his left for nearly a mile to the eastward of the Quaker road, McClellan had covered the bluffs, looking to the westward, with his splendid train of heavy siege guns which he had carefully saved for such an occasion. These swept the whole country in his rear and also the approaches from Richmond by the River road. At the southern end of this projecting ridge and at right angles to its line of heavy batteries, was a still more formidable massing of guns, commanding the River road under the brow of the ridge and leading to the position at Harrison's landing, which he had already covered with formidable earthworks. Warren's division was also placed across this River road at the point of the ridge. But McClellan had another strong arm of defense which was a hitherto unknown element in his fighting. A large number of Federal gunboats had come up James river and were anchored in Turkey Island bend, so that their guns not only enfiladed the whole western front of McClellan's position, but had a range, for their huge shells, to beyond the northern front of his line of battle, and raked the right of the position the oncoming Confederate lines of attack would be compelled to occupy. This co-operation of the sea power of the Federals more than doubled the strength of its local land power, great as that was, and effectually prevented any attack upon the left flank or the rear of the Malvern ridge.

Continuing his pursuit of McClellan on the 1st of July, Lee reached the front of the Federal position about noonday, and disposed a portion of the forces of Huger and Jackson, which had approached by the converging roads before referred to; the former on the right and the latter on the left. Magruder had been ordered to the same point, by the Quaker road, but it so happened that there were two roads in that region having the same name; he