cking to camp,
and before long companies, regiments, and brigades amounting to 150,000
men were drilling daily on the banks of the Potomac, while formidable
works crowned the entire crest of Arlington Heights. In October the aged
General Scott resigned, and McClellan, at the summit of his popularity
with army and people, became commander-in-chief.

[Illustration: Portrait.]
General George B. McClellan.

For several weeks after Bull Run it was feared that Beauregard and his
men would descend upon Washington, then in a defenceless condition; but
they were in no state to attack. They too felt the need of preparation
for the coming struggle, whose magnitude both sides now began to
realize.

A disheartening affair occurred in October. On the night of the 20th two
Massachusetts regiments crossed the Potomac at Ball's Bluff, a few miles
above Washington, to surprise a hostile camp which according to rumor
had been established there. A large force concealed in the woods
attacked and forced them to retreat. They were re-enforced by 1,900 men
under Colonel Baker. The enemy were also re-enforced. Baker was killed
and the Union soldiers driven over the bluff into the river. The boats
were totally inadequate in number, and the men had to make their way
across as best they could, exposed to the Confederate fire. The total
Union loss was 1,000.

On the whole, then, the South had reason to be gratified with the
aggregate result of the first year of war. Bull Run gave the
Confederates a sense of invincibility, and the ready recognition by the
foreign powers of their rights as belligerents, offered hope that
England would soon acknowledge their independence itself. And they
thought that the North had been doing its best when it had only been
getting ready.

END OF VOLUME III.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the United States, Volume 3
(of 6), by E. Benjamin Andrews

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES ***

***** This file should be named 23748.txt or 23748.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/7/4/23748/

Produced by Don Kostuch

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it i