Riding without pause through the moonlit night they reached the
Chickahominy at daybreak. The stream was out of its banks and could not
be forded. They built a bridge, crossed over at dawn, and the following
day leaped from their saddles before Lee's headquarters and reported.
A thrill of admiration and dismay swept the ranks of the Northern army
and started in Washington a wave of bitter criticism against McClellan.
No word of reply reached the world from the little Napoleon. He was busy
digging trenches, felling trees and pushing his big guns steadily
forward and always behind impregnable works. He was a born engineer and
his soul was set on training his great siege guns on the Confederate
Capital.
On the 25th of June his advance guard had pressed within five miles of
the apparently doomed city. His breastworks bristled from every point of
advantage. His army was still divided by the Chickahominy River, but he
had so thoroughly bridged its treacherous waters he apparently had no
fear of coming results.
On June the 27th Stonewall Jackson had slipped from the Shenandoah
Valley, baffling two armies converging on him from different directions,
and with a single tiger leap had landed his indomitable little army by
Lee's side.
Anticipating his arrival, the Confederate general had hurled Hill's
corps against the Union right wing under Porter.
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