The Conflict at Antientam

The war which immediately followed the assault on Fort Summer was so crowded with events of striking importance and interest that we shall be obliged to pass in rapid review over certain engagements of vital consequence, and dwell only upon the special turning-points of the war. The conflict in Virginia was in particular crowded with sanguinary engagements, constituting a drama of imposing interest, whose first act may be considered to end with the battle of Antietam, in September, 1862. The varied scenes prceding the denouement of this act can be given but in rapid outline. The reduction of Fort Sumter was immediately followed by a call from President Linclon for seventy-five thousand volunteers, who were quickly furnished by the aroused and indignant people of the North. Yet a lack of boldness and decision on the part of the authorities permitted the valuable navy-yard at Norolk to fall into the hands of the Confederates, caused the destruction of the costly arms-making machinery at Harper's Ferry, and left Washington City in no little danger of caputre. The latter peril was averted by the hasty southward movement of troops, but highly valuable material of war fell into the hands of the secessionists, through the seizure of Southern forts and arsenals, some of which had been specially supplied for this purpose by the secession element of the Buchanan cabinet.

The military situatoin,and the character of the war that followed, were in some respects peculiar. There was actually a double war,-- one confined to the State of Virginia and the country immediately north of it, the other waged tfor the possession of the Mississippi and the range of States bordering it on the east. Besides these two great fields of campaigning, were the operations west of the Mississippi, of minor importance, and the blockade of the coast, which proved highly useful in isolating the South form foreign countries.

The two capital cities, Washington and Richmond, were the points between which, for four years, raged the war in Virginia, these cities being assailed and defended with a vigor and fury that went far to exhaust the resources of the warring sections of the country. In the West the line of battle was gradually pushed southward from the Ohio, through the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, till the Gulf States were finally reached. On the Mississippi it went southward more rapidly, while a like movement was pushed northward along that river, until the two invading armies met, and the great artery of the West became again a river of the United States,. Only after this achievement did the two fields of war begin to combine into one, the Western army marching into the Atlantic States and pushing north to the aid of Grant in that final struggle which was draining the last life-drops of vitality from the venins of the exhausted Confederacy.

The operations of the armies must therefore be considered separately. In the East hostilities first broke out definitely in West Virginia. This new State, which had clung to the Union, became the seat of a struggle in which McClellan and Rosecrans gained an early triumph. At the battle of Rich Mountain (July 11, 1861), Garnet, the Confederate general, was killed, and his troops routed. General Patterson had meanwhile taken possession of Harper's Ferry, which was evacuated by General Johnson, and General Butler, stationed at Fortress Monroe, had skirmished with the enemy at Big Bethel.

The war fairly began in later July, when General McDowell, with twenty-eight thousand men, advanced against General Beauregard, who was strongly posted behind the small stream of Bull Run, south of Washington. In the severe battle that ensured both armies were under the disadvantage of being composed of untried and undisciplined men. Victory at first inclined strongly towards McDowell, but Beauregard, with great skills, maintained his position until joined by Johnston's army from the Shenandoah Valley. Patterson, who was expected from the same quarter, failed to appear, and the Federal army, overwhelmed by these fresh troops, was forced to retreat with a haste that soon became precipitate. They were not pursued, however.

McClettan was now recalled from West Virginia, and placed in command of the Army of the Potomac, while Rosecrans was left to confront Geneal Lee, who had been placed in command of the West Virginia Confederate foresees. No further events of particular importance occurred in that quarter, while in Eastern Virginia comparative quiet reigned during the remainder of 1861, McClellan being busily engaged in drilling and disciplining his army. IN March, 1862, he moved his whole force to the peninsula between the York and James Rivers, and began an advance upon Richmond, pursuing General Johnston, who had hastily evacuated Yorktown and retreated, his rear being struck and defeated at Williamsburg. The first battle of importance took place on May 31, on which day Johnston suddenly assailed a portion o the Union army that had crossed the Chickahominy. Nothing but the hasty pushing forward of reinforecements prevented a serious disaster. Johnston was wounded in this engagement, and was succeeded by Robert E. Lee, who on the 1st of June was made commander-in-chief of the Confederate army of Northern Virginia.

Meanwhile, events of importance were occurring in the Shenandoah Valley, where Stonewall Jackson made that memorable march which gave him so sudden and brilliant a reputation. Striking rapidly north, he defeated Banks, and drove him, with severe loss, beyond the Potomac, and then drew backs so rapidly as to slip unharmed between the columns of McDowell and Fremont, who were advancing across the mountains from the east and the west, hoping to catch their alert antagonist in a trap.