men touched the wharf
about two hours after the _Crescent_ had made fast. The guns of
Fort Stevens were already heard shelling the approaches, and thither
Wright was at once directed, but in the great heat and dust Early
had pressed on so fast that his men arrived before the works parched
with thirst and panting with exhaustion. Moreover, evening came
before the rear of his column had closed up on the front, and during
these critical hours Wright's strong divisions of the veterans of
the Army of the Potomac lined the works and stood stiffly across
the path, while in supporting distance to the eastward was the
little handful from the Gulf. Early, who had seen something of
this and imagined more, waited, and so his opportunity, great or
little, went. On the afternoon of the next day, the 12th of July,
Early still not attacking, Wright sent out a brigade and roughly
pushed back the Confederate advance. Then Early, realizing that
he had not an hour to lose in extricating his command from its
false position, fell back at night on Rockville.

On the 13th of July the _Clinton_ arrived at Washington with the
29th Maine and part of the 13th Maine, the _St. Mary_ with the 8th
Vermont, the _Corinthian_ with the remaining six companies of the
114th New York, the _Mississippi_ with the 90th and 116th New York
and the 30th Massachusetts, the _Creole_ with the 47th Pennsylvania.
As the detachments landed they were hurried, in most instances by
long and needless circuits to Tennallytown, where they found
themselves at night without supplies or wagons, without orders,
and without much organization.

Now that the enemy had gone and there were enough troops in
Washington, the capital was once more a wild confusion of commands
and commanders, such as seems to have prevailed at every important
crisis during the war. Out of this Grant brought order by assigning
Wright to conduct the pursuit of Early. When, therefore, on the
morning of the 13th, Wright found Early gone from his front, he
marched after him with the Sixth Corps, and ordered the detachment
of the Nineteenth Corps to follow. Grant wished Wright to push on
to Edwards Ferry to cut off Early's retreat across the Potomac.
At nightfall Wright was at Offutt's Cross-Roads, with Russell and
Getty of the Sixth corps, the handful of the Nineteenth Corps, and
the cavalry.

About 3,600 men of Emory's division had landed at Washington during
the 12th and 13th of July, increasing