HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF
THE POTOMAC,
Turkey Island, July 1,
1862 – 2.45 a.m.
Brig. Gen. LORENZO THOMAS,
Adjutant-General U.S. Army:
GENERAL: Another desperate combat to-day. Our troops
repulsed the enemy. I was sending orders to renew the combat to-morrow, fearing
the consequences of farther retreat in the exhausted condition of the troops
and being as willing to stake the last chance of battle in that position as any
other under the circumstances, when I learned that the right had fallen back
after dark and that the center was following.
I have taken steps to adopt a new line, the left resting on
Turkey Island, and thence along a ridge parallel to James River as far as I
have the force to hold it. Rodgers will do all that can be done to cover my
flanks. I will probably be obliged to change this line in a few days, when I
have rested the men, for one lower down, and extending from the Chickahominy to
the James.
If it is the intention of the Government to re-enforce me
largely it should be done promptly and in mass. I need 50,000 more men, and
with them I will retrieve our fortunes. More would be well, but that number
sent at once will, I think, enable me to assume the offensive. I cannot too
strongly urge the necessity of prompt action in this matter. Even a few
thousand fresh men within the next twenty-four or forty-eight hours will do
much toward relieving and encouraging this wearied army, which has been engaged
in constant combat for the last five or six days.
I must apologize for the probable incoherency of this
letter. I am exhausted by want of sleep and constant anxiety for many days.
Very respectfully,
yours,
GEO. B. McCLELLAN,
Major-General,
Commanding.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume
11, Part 3 (Serial No. 14), p. 281
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