that gallant officer looking from the hills of Fredericksburg, to
see if the rebels were coming in that direction. To tell you the
truth, my son, our Government was so afraid that the rebels would
turn short around and take Washington, and make prisoners of its
cabinet officers, that it made "look-out generals" of so many brave
officers, who had troops under their command, that it had none to
send General George to assist in taking Richmond. It may however, be
a consolation to us to know that this would not have been the first
time, in the history of the world, that fear had cost a great nation
its fortunes and its glories.

General George marched leisurely along with his brave army until he
came within four miles of Richmond, where there was a great swamp
called the Chickahominy. The name of this swamp will be long
remembered by our brave soldiers of the Army of the Potomac. The
rain fell like a deluge, and flooded it; and it gave out deadly
fevers, which brought death and tribulation on our army. And in this
swamp our army fought the battle of Fair Oaks, and gained another
grand victory over the enemy. But we had no means of following up
this victory, and so its effect was lost to us. Then our army
settled down into this deadly swamp, and wondered and waited for
nearly a month, until our men got heart-sick and fever-stricken. We
watched the enemy on the hills beyond; and the enemy watched us in
the swamp. And we waited until the enemy had brought all his forces
up into Richmond, and General Lee, his best general, had taken
command. Things began to look desperate with our George, and he
began thinking how he should get safely out of the swamp and change
his base. How was he to fight Mr. Lee with all his strength, when
the strength we ought to have sent him was kept at a safe distance
looking on? George saw that the glories of Williamsburg, of West