It would be difficult to imagine an army better prepared for active operations; and the position which it held had been well selected.

The left of the army was protected by the wellnigh impassable morass of the White-oak Swamp, and all the approaches from the direction of Richmond were obstructed by the natural difficulties of the ground, which had been rendered still more forbidding by an abattis of felled trees and earthworks of the best description.

Unless the right of McClellan, on the northern bank of the Chickahominy, were turned by the Confederates, his communications with his base at the White House and the safety of his army were assured.

And even the apparently improbable contingency of such an assault on his right had been provided for.

Other bodies of Federal troops had advanced into Virginia to cooeperate with the main force on the Peninsula.