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[189] was not until about one o'clock that he heard from his aides that every thing was not going on favorably in front,--upon which he hurried up as rapidly as possible, arriving there between four and five in the afternoon. General Keyes, in his examination before the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War, says, “The battle of Williamsburg was gained by our side, but at a very great loss in Hooker's division and considerable loss in Hancock's and Peck's brigades. The victory, for the reasons I have stated, was nothing like as decisive as it should have been, nor gained so early in the day. In fact, the victory was not what, in military language, is generally called a perfect victory, because we were not able to sleep in the enemy's camp except in part.” 1
1 Upon the battle of Williamsburg, General Barnard says, “We fought, we lost several thousand men, and we gained nothing. If we had not fought, the next day a battle would, in all probability, have been unnecessary. But, if it had been necessary, we should have had time to have brought up our resources, reconnoitred the position, and delivered our attack in such a way that some result would have flowed from it.”
Upon this Colonel Lecomte remarks, “We gained there at least the credit of having carried a position by force of arms, which General Barnard regrets so much we did not do at Yorktown. But this is not the only contradiction into which the honorable general falls. He would not have feared, for instance, assaults, however fruitless, upon the strongly-fortified line of Yorktown and Warwick, and he is inconsolable at the losses caused by success.”
Philadelphia. Lippincott & Co. 1864.
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