[Illustration: Yours truly Charles Carleton Coffin (signature)] FOLLOWING THE FLAG FROM AUGUST 1861 TO NOVEMBER 1862 WITH THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC BY CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN AUTHOR OF "MY DAYS AND NIGHTS ON THE BATTLEFIELD," "BOYS OF '76," "BOYS OF '61," "WINNING HIS WAY," ETC. NEW YORK HURST & COMPANY PUBLISHERS CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN SERIES UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME By CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN Following the Flag. Four Years of Fighting. My Days and Nights on the Battlefield. Winning His Way. _Price, postpaid, 50c. each, or any three books for $1.25_ HURST & COMPANY PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK PREFACE. It will be many years before a complete history of the operations of the armies of the Union can be written; but that is not a sufficient reason why historical pictures may not now be painted from such materials as have come to hand. This volume, therefore, is a sketch of the operations of the Army of the Potomac from August, 1861, to November, 1862, while commanded by General McClellan. To avoid detail, the organization of the army is given in an Appendix. It has not been possible, in a book of this size, to give the movements of regiments; but the narrative has been limited to the operations of brigades and divisions. It will be comparatively easy, however, for the reader to ascertain the general position of any regiment in the different battles, by consulting the Appendix in connection with the narrative. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE Introductory 9 I. Organization of the Army of the Potomac 11 II. Ball's Bluff 22 III. Battle of Dranesville, and the Winter of 1862 38 IV. Siege of Yorktown 49 V. Battle of Williamsburg 65 VI. On the Chickahominy 82 Affair at Hanover Court-House 84 VII. Fair Oaks 88 VIII. Seven Days of Fighting 108 Battle of Mechanicsville 111 Battle of Gaines's Mills 115 Movement to James River 121 Battle of Savage Station 123 Battle of Glendale 125 Battle of Malvern 131 IX. Affairs in front of Washington 138 Battle of Cedar Mountain 140 X. Battle of Groveton 147 The Retreat to Washington 157