General Magruder's arrival alone saved Hill from an ignominious flight. Through the night there was the red glare of torches upon the battle-field where the Rebel wounded were being gathered up. Great was the loss. Up to daylight there was no apparent diminution of the heart-rending cries and groans of the wounded. A mournful wail was heard from Glendale during that long, dismal night.[44] [Footnote 44: Hooker's Report.] THE BATTLE OF MALVERN. The battle-field of July 1st, 1862, bears the pleasant name of Malvern. It is on the north bank of the James,--an elevated plain near the river, but declining gently towards the north,--divided into corn and wheat fields, bordered on the east and west and south by wooded ravines. The estate is owned by Dr. Carter. Although it bears a name so pleasant, there have been sad scenes upon those fertile fields,--not alone the shock, roar, and horror of a great battle, but the low wail of mothers for their infants, torn from their arms and sold to slave-traders,--the agonies of men under torture of the whip, their flesh torn and mangled by an unfeeling master. "Was he a good master?" I asked of an old negro at City Point, in July, 1864. "No, sir. He was very bad, sir. He was de wussest dat eber was, sir. He was so bad dat we call him Hell Carter, sir. 'Cause we tink dat de Lord will send him to de bad place one ob dese days, sir. He go dere sure, sir." The mansion is a quaint old structure, built of red bricks, surrounded by elms, and commanding a wide panorama of the James, of the valley of the Appomattox, and the distant Richmond hills. The house was standing in the time of the Revolution, and was marked on the map of Cornwallis. West of Malvern are the Strawberry Plains. A streamlet, which rises in the vicinity of Glendale, courses to the James through a wooded ravine between the Strawberry grounds and Malvern. The hill is so sharp and steep and high that General Barnard was able to plant two tiers of guns upon the slope, and crown it with heavy siege guns. The trees in the ravine were felled, and rifle-pits thrown up, extending along the western side and across the open field towards the north, where the slope of the hill shades into the level plain. Eastward, the trees were felled and their branches lopped by the pioneers. It was a strong position, and these preparations made it impregnable. Lee must assail it from the northwest,--over the wide plain, exposed to the fire of sixty cannon. Porter's corps occupied the ravine between Malvern and the Plains. Couch's, Kearney's, and Hooker's divisions held the front towards the north. Sumner's and Franklin's corps held the left; the Pennsylvania Reserves and the remainder of Keyes's corps, the center. The line was semicircular, and so well concentrated were the troops, that reinforcements, if needed, might be had with little delay.