next day, the capture of 300 prisoners and 1,000 wounded, and five guns. But the fact is, that the battle was fought by General Johnston with two divisions of his army, for no other purpose than to secure his trains and make good his retreat upon Richmond, and this he accomplished. The divisions that fought the battle slept on the field, and left their positions without molestation on the morning of the 6th. Johnston marched only 12 miles on the 6th, and was not pursued. Four hundred wounded were left at Williamsburg because he had no ambulances, and the wagons were out of reach on the march toward Richmond. Four hundred prisoners, several stand of colors, and cannon were taken, and the Confederate loss, 1,560 killed and wounded, was only two-thirds that of the Federals.[1] With these facts before us, Williamsburg can not be considered a victory for General McClellan.
Regarding the morale of the Confederate army at this period, a distinguished commander of one of its divisions wrote: "Our revolutionary sires did not suffer more at Valley Forge than did our army at Yorktown, and in the retreat from it. Notwithstanding the rain, cold, mud, hunger, watching and fatigue, I never heard a murmur, nor witnessed a single act of insubordination. The want of discipline manifested itself only in straggling, which is the curse of our army."
The security of General Johnston s march toward
Richmond was seriously threatened on the second day after the battle at Williamsburg, May 7th. The menace came from the direction of Eltham’s landing, at the head of the York, where General McClellan was disembarking several of the divisions of his army. Franklin’s division had landed, and was in line of battle well in front and covering the disembarkation of the other divisions. In this position, Franklin s advance was within 3 miles of Johnston s line of march, and his trains and artil-
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- ↑ The loss of Jenkins brigade was 10 killed and 75 wounded (including Lieut w. J. Campbell, mortally).
