After hard work upon bridges and roads the leading troops under General McClellan had advanced to a position which was within five miles of Richmond. The body of men in advance were well supported by others and there were strong divisions also scattered to the north and south. In the meantime General Johnston had become afraid that another part of the Union army, under General McDowell, a part that had been watching Washington, would join General McClellan in the attack upon Richmond. He had called upon General Jackson, who had been confronting McDowell in the Shenandoah Valley, and was assured that Jackson would keep McDowell “very much interested” where he was--and he did. General McDowell’s command had been promised to General McClellan and to have it held back was a great blow to the Union commander-in-chief. Had McDowell’s troops been sent down to the peninsula it is certain that Richmond would have been in far more danger of being taken than it was. So, assured that McDowell would be held in check, and receiving reinforcements of his own, the Confederate commander-in-chief resolved to force the fighting instead of holding back as before. He knew that the right and left wings of the Union forces were divided by the Chickahominy River, and he chose for the conflict a time when the elements might help him. The battle started upon Saturday, the 31st of May. On Friday, the day before, one of the heaviest thunder storms yet experienced upon the peninsula broke forth, and the Chickahominy, already much swollen, became a raging torrent, which swept away some of the bridges and put swimming or further bridge-building just then out of the question. In this fearful storm the Confederate troops were brought forward, some from Richmond on the railroad cars, to confront the enemy at daybreak, General Johnston feeling assured that he could defeat one wing of the Union troops before the other could come to the relief. The attack was not wholly expected, yet something was “in the air,” and the troops were held in readiness for action. Louis spent six hours in a rifle-pit, with Harry next to him. The rain beat upon them pitilessly and soon they were in water up to their knees. “By ginger, but this is worse than fighting,” grumbled Harry, when crash! bang! came a thunder clap and a stroke of lightning, and a giant oak not a hundred feet away was split in twain and toppled over. The oak was over in the direction of the Confederate picket line, and a scrambling in the bushes followed, showing that some of the boys in gray were hustling to get out of further danger of that sort. Half an hour later the water rushed into the rifle pits in such a stream that the defenses had to be abandoned.