was ordered to a position where he might assist in the defence of the Capital, or in an attack upon Richmond, as circumstances might require. General Wool, with his ten thousand men at Fortress Monroe, was also made independent of McClellan's orders, although, like McDowell, he was directed to co-operate with the Army of the Potomac as far as possible. General McClellan, perceiving these indications of a lack of implicit confidence in his judgment, and feeling that he might be denied support at any time, startled the President on the 7th of April by telegraphing to the Secretary of War that he had only eighty-five thousand effective men, and might be called upon to confront one hundred thousand Confederates. He had just reported that he had over one hundred thousand effective troops. The President asked him to explain, and urged him to strike the foe before they should gather in greater strength on his front. Instead of that, McClellan continued to halt and complain of a want of troops. The President urged him to act. "The country will note-it is now noting," Mr. Lincoln said, "that the present hesitation to move upon an intrenched enemy is but the story of Manassas repeated." The President expressed the kindest feelings toward the general, and closed his letter with the remark, "But you must act." Still he hesitated and complained; and although, at the close of April, just before the Confederates evacuated Yorktown, he reported one hundred and twelve thousand soldiers on the Peninsula fit for duty, he complained that the lack of McDowell's force prevented Franklin striking the fugitives from Williamsburg on the flank. It is asserted that the chief cause of the failure was McClellan's hesitancy in deciding whether he should smite the Confederates on their front, or flank them, until it was too late to attempt either.

The wisdom of detaching McDowell's corps from the Army of the Potomac was soon made apparent. After the departure of Johnston, with his troops, from Manassas, which relieved Washington from immediate danger, McDowell advanced to Fredericksburg, with thirty thousand men, to assist McClellan or cover the Capital, as he might be ordered. Fremont among the mountains and Banks in the Shenandoah Valley had, in the aggregate, about the same number of troops; and at the beginning of May, Stonewall Jackson had been joined by the skillful General Ewell, near Harrisonburg, in the upper part of the Valley. Ewell was ordered to hold Banks, while General Robert E. Lee, who had been recalled from Georgia, should push across the Rappahannock with a strong column and cut off all communication between Winchester and Alexandria.

While Jackson was watching Banks he was startled by the approach of one of Fremont's brigades tinder General Milroy, evidently for the purpose of joining the Nationals in the Valley. Jackson immediately moved against Milroy; and at McDowell, west of Staunton, he struck the brigade a severe blow on the 8th of May. A sharp engagement occurred, lasting about five hours. Neither party won a victory. The Nationals lost in killed and wounded two hundred and fifty-six men, and the