all upon the line thus weakened and
cut his army in twain. The next day McClellan commenced his retreat
towards the James, having put his army over the Chickahominy the night
after his defeat. His step was, no doubt, occasioned by the fact that
Lee had sent Stuart with his cavalry and Ewell's Division of Infantry
down the north side of the Chickahominy and destroyed McClellan's line
of communication between his army and the York River. However, the
Confederate commander was equally as anxious to cut him off from the
James as the York. He aimed to force him to battle between the
two rivers, and there, cut off from his fleet, he would be utterly
destroyed. Lee only wished McClellan to remain in his present position
until he could reach the James with a part of his own troops, now on
the north side of the Chickahominy.

On the evening of the 27th, Magruder made a feint with Kershaw's and
some other brigades of this division, near Alens, as the troops in
his front showed a disposition to retire. A line of battle was formed,
skirmishers thrown out, and an advance ordered. Our skirmishers had
not penetrated far into the thicket before they were met by a volley
from the enemy's line of battle. The balls whistled over our heads
and through the tops of the scrubby oaks, like a fall of hail. It put
chills to creeping up our backs, the first time we had ever been under
a musketry fire. For a moment we were thrown into a perfect fever of
excitement and confusion. The opening in the rear looked temptingly
inviting in comparison to the wooded grounds in front, from whence
came the volley of bullets. Here the Third South Carolina lost her
first soldier in battle, Dr. William Thompson, of the medical staff,
who had followed too close on the heels of the fighting column in his
anxiety to be near the battle.

Early in the morning of the 28th, Lee put the columns of Longstreet
and A.P. Hill in motion in the direction of Richmond around our rear.
After their meeting with Holmes and Huger on our extreme right, they
were to press down the James River and prevent McClellan from reaching
it. Jackson, D.H. Hill, and Magruder were to follow the retreating
army. We left our quarters early in the day, and soon found ourselves
in the enemy's deserted camp.

The country between the James and the Chickahominy is a very flat,
swampy county, grown up in great forests, with now and then a
cultivated field. The forests were over-run with a tangled mas