ed when night fell. On the morning of the 13th the force from the camp on Cheat summit, 300 in number, first met the confederates, engaging them with such effect that they broke and fled in confusion, leaving large quantities of clothing and equipments on the ground. The detachment from the other camp was unable to find the enemy, and passed on by an unobstructed road to the summit. While this was going on, Gen. Lee, with the remaining 4,000 or 5,000 of his force, made an attack on Elkwater; but he shortly withdrew under a severe fire of artillery. On the 14th the confederates concentrated at a distance of 10 miles from Elkwater, and on the 15th once more threatened Cheat summit; they were repulsed, however, and finally retired. The Union loss was 9 killed, 15 wounded, and about 60 prisoners; that of the confederates was about 100 killed and 20 prisoners; among their killed was Col. John A. Washington, of Gen. Lee's staff.

CHEATHAM, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, a general in the service of the confederate states, born in Nashville, Tenn., of a family of much distinction and influence, entered the U. S. service in May, 1846, as a captain in Campbell's regiment of 12 months' volunteers raised for the Mexican war, distinguished himself under Col. Harney at Medelin, and was honorably discharged in May, 1847, at the expiration of the term for which the regiment had enlisted. He now returned to Tennessee, and in Oct. 1847, was again mustered into the U. S. service as colonel of the 3d Tennessee volunteers, enlisted for the duration of the war, which served till July, 1848. He was one of the first Tennesseeans to enlist in the civil war against the U. S. government in 1861, and was early appointed a brigadier-general in the confederate army. He commanded at Mayfield, Ky., in Sept. 1861, led the confederates in the battle of Belmont, served afterward at Columbus, Ky., and commanded the 4th division of the army which entered Kentucky in Sept. 1862, under Gen. Bragg, with which he took part in the battle of Perryville. He is now a major-general.

CHESS, and BROME GRASS, Common names of several species of the genus bromus, belonging to the natural order graminea, or grasses, and tribe festucea (fescue grass, &c.). In the wheat-raising districts of the United States the name chess is given particularly to the species bromus secalinus, which is also called cheat, and, from its introducer into this country as a grass of supposed value, Willard's bromus. Among the characteristics of the genus are: spikelets with 5 to many flowers, panicled, glumes not quite equal, shorter than the flow ers, mostly keeled, the lower with 1 to 5, the upper with 3 to 9 nerves; the flowers lanceolate, compressed; the palea herbaceous, the lower keeled, 5-9-nerved, awned or bristle-pointed from below the tip; the upper palea finally adherent to the grain; stamens 3, styles attached below the apex of the ovary. The grasses of this genus are coarse, with large spikelets,

generally somewhat drooping when ripe. The species most known in Great Britain are the B. erectus, straight, 2 to 3 feet high; B. asper, 4 to 5 feet in height; B. sterilis, 1 to 2 feet; and B. diandrus, rarely met. Of the B. secalinus, or chess proper, specific characters are: a spreading panicle, slightly drooping; spikelets ovate, smooth, of a yellowish green tinge, holding 6 to 10 rather distinct flowers. The stems are erect, smooth, round, 2 to 3 feet in height, bearing 4 or 5 leaves with striated sheaths; joints 5, slightly hairy; leaves flat, soft, linear, their points and margins rough to the touch. This plant is annual, flowering in June and July; but in some cases in which it is cut sooner or otherwise fails to produce seed, it survives, and matures the second year. Chess is a source of annoyance particularly in grain fields, most of all in those of wheat, since it is difficult to separate its seed, having nearly the size but without the plumpness of barley, from the cultivated grains. The notion of many farmers that wheat which has been injured by frost in the autumn or otherwise arrested in its growth is liable to turn to chess, and that of others that the chess grains themselves never grow, are of course wholly without foundation. Some years since the cultivation of chess as a valuable grass for cattle, like millet, lucerne, &c., was recommended by many persons in this country, probably in ignorance of its really worthless quality, and high prices were charged for the seed; whence doubtless arose its present wide diffusion. It has been supposed that by many who thus disseminated the plant it was mistaken for the B. arvensis, the only species of brome grass at all suitable for cultivation, but which is itself now wholly displaced by more desirable sorts of grasses. In experiments that have been tried with the chess, cattle have been found to prefer to it almost every sort of fodder, save oat straw and corn stalks. It is the farmer's true interest, indeed, to keep his fields as clear as possible of all the species of brome grass. Among the other species known in the United States are the upright chess (B. racemo sus), the soft chess (B. mollis), declared by some authorities to be poisonous, the wild chess (B. Kalmii), the fringed brome grass (B. ciliatus), the meadow brome grass (B. pratensis), and the field brome grass (B. arvensis). From this last the B. secalinus is distinguished by the spikelets of the former having fewer florets, and its outer palea being rounded at the summit.

CHICAMACOMICO, N. C., a point on the narrow island beach separating Pamlico sound from the Atlantic ocean, which was the scene of an engagement between a party of confederate troops and the U. S. vessel Monticello, Oct. 5, 1861. The 20th Indiana regiment had their camp at the point named, about 30 m. above Fort Hatteras. A confederate fleet, consisting of 6 steamers, towing schooners and flat boats, all loaded with troops, came out of Croatan sound on the morning of Oct. 4, and landed 1,500 men above the Indiana camp; they then

steamed down, throwing shells on shore as they passed, and prepared to land a second body of troops below the camp, thus cutting off a retreat. The Indiana regiment, however, was quicker in its movements, and anticipated the confederates by reaching the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, where it made a stand. Word was immediately sent by the colonel to the U. S. frigate Susquehanna, and the Monticello was despatched to his aid. The latter vessel arrived at the spot indicated on the 5th, and overtook a confederate regiment making its way with precipitation to its boats; the vessel followed up these troops, shelling them on shore, and destroying two boats loaded with those who had succeeded in embarking. With this the effective attack ceased. The confederate loss is not known, but must have been large, as the firing was at very short range.

CHICKAHOMINY, CAMPAIGN OF THE. After the evacuation of Yorktown on the night of May 3, 1862 (see YORKTOWN, vol. xvi. p. 612), a portion of the confederate army which had formed its garrison proceeded along the York and Pamunkey rivers to White House on the latter stream, while the main body under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston retreated through Williamsburg in the direction of Richmond. On the morning of the 4th the corps of Heintzelman and Keyes started in pursuit. The Union cavalry advance under Gen. Stoneman came up with their rear guard near Williamsburg on the same afternoon, and, after a severe engagement at close quarters, drove it within the strong defensive works erected in front of the town. Soon afterward Gen. Hooker's division of Heintzelman's corps arrived on the ground, and bivouacked for the night about 13 miles from the confederate lines, while the divisions of Gens. Casey, Couch, and Kearny, which had been greatly delayed by miry roads encumbered with trains, encamped several miles in his rear. The defences of Williamsburg consisted of a series of redoubts stretching from Queen's to Achaershape creek, across the peninsula, about a mile in front of the city, and mounted with heavy guns. At 7 A. M. of the 5th, Gen. Hooker engaged the confederates nearly opposite Fort Magruder, the largest of the redoubts. Heavy rains had fallen during the previous day and night, and still continued, rendering the roads almost impassable for artillery; but with great exertions Webber's battery was pushed forward to within 350 yards of Fort Magruder, where, in an open plain, exposed to a murderous fire from redoubts and rifle pits, it maintained its position for hours, effectually silencing the guns of the fort. After many of the officers and men had been disabled and nearly all the horses killed, the battery was obliged to retire, leaving 4 of its guns on the field. Meanwhile Hooker's troops, sheltered by woods which skirted the plain in the rear of the battery, maintained a severe struggle with the confederates under Longstreet, who had been strongly

reënforced by a portion of Johnston's army already on the retreat beyond Williamsburg, and had between 15,000 and 20,000 men under his command. The confederates advanced 3 times in overpowering force to turn the Union left, penetrating deeply into the woods, and were as often driven back with loss. So severe however was the pressure on the Union line that one of the brigades, exhausted by cold and wet and hard fighting, was finally broken and obliged to retire behind the Excelsior brigade of New York troops, commanded by Col. Taylor. These troops, together with Grover's brigade, stood firm, and when their ammunition was exhausted prepared to meet the enemy with the bayonet. Gen. Heintzelman, who was in command, had meanwhile sent repeated messages to the rear to hasten forward Kearny's division, and at 3 P. M. the leading brigade under Gen. Berry came up, the men having thrown away overcoats and knapsacks in their eagerness to reach the ground. Advancing with loud cheers, they drove the confederates back from the woods where they had begun to gain a foothold, and by their timely arrival saved the exhausted soldiers of Hooker's division from disastrous defeat. Shortly afterward Birney's brigade, also of Kearny's division, came up, and completed the discomfiture of the confederates, who were driven beyond their rifle pits, leaving many dead upon the field. Meanwhile, on the right of Hooker, Gen. Peck of Keyes's corps was actively engaged for several hours with the enemy, and at 5 P. M. the brigade of Gen. Hancock, posted on the extreme right, made a brilliant bayonet charge upon some works on the left of the confederate lines, routing the brigade of Gen. Early and killing and capturing upward of 300 men, with but slight loss. On the left of the Union line the operations under Gen. Emory amounted to little more than a reconnoissance. At nightfall the Union troops lay down to rest in the drenching rain, having advanced their position since the morning; and under cover of the darkness the confederates abandoned their works and many of their guns, and continued their retreat. On the succeeding morning the Union advance under Gen. Jameson, accompanied by Gen. McClellan, occupied Williamsburg, where were found many buildings filled with wounded confederates. The troops of Heintzelman, upon whom fell the brunt of the fighting, lost upward of 2,000 in killed and wounded, while the casualties of those on the right did not exceed 100. The confederate loss is unknown, but probably equalled that of the Unionists.While these events were taking place, a large portion of McClellan's army, comprising the troops of Sumner and Franklin, proceeded up York river in transports to West Point, where the Pamunkey and Mattapony rivers unite to form the York, and on the afternoon of May 6 were landed on the right bank of the Pamunkey near its mouth. The original plan of the campaign is said to have contemplated

a movement up the James river, which would have enabled the army to attack Richmond on the N. or S. side at its pleasure, and to receive its supplies and reënforcements in the immediate vicinity of its base of operations. The presence of the Merrimac in the James, however, interfered with this project, and led to the selection of the York river. On the morning of the 7th Franklin encountered near his landing place a large confederate force commanded by Gens. G. W. Smith and Whiting, and posted in dense woods, from which they poured an annoying fire upon the Union troops. The latter, being inferior in numbers, manoeuvred to draw the enemy out upon the open ground, but could effect little until reënforcements were landed and the gunboats in the stream arrived within supporting distance. The confederates, who formed part of the army retreating upon Richmond, then retired, and the positions held by them were immediately occupied by the troops of Franklin and Sumner. The main body of the confederates retired behind the Chickahominy river, which formed the defensive line of Richmond, while that portion which fought at West Point fell back to White House, a station of the Richmond and York river railroad on the Pamunkey, about 20 m. from Richmond. The army of McClellan meanwhile advanced by slow marches from Williamsburg toward Richmond, and the commander-in-chief, finding that the confederates intended to defend the line of the Chickahominy, resolved to make White House his base of supplies, and thence march across the peninsula to Richmond, using the railroad as a means of bringing supplies to his lines in front of that place. On May 10 the cavalry advance under Gen. Stoneman occupied White House, the enemy retiring at his approach, and on the 12th a strong force of Union infantry was concentrated there. On the 14th nearly the whole of the invading army was encamped at Cumberland on the Pamunkey river, about midway between West Point and White House, and 6 m. from the latter place, and on the 16th it moved forward to White House. Thence on the 19th was commenced the grand, concerted movement upon Richmond, the corps of Heintzelman and Keyes, which formed the left wing of the army, marching toward Bottom's bridge, a crossing place of the Chickahominy, 10 m. S. E. of Richmond, over which passes the road to Williamsburg, and the remainder following the York river railroad about 4 m. to Tunstall's station, where the right wing, comprising the corps of Franklin and Fitz John Porter, diverged to the N. W., leaving the centre un der Gen. Sumner to follow the railroad. On the 20th the left wing reached Bottom's bridge, and the railroad bridge which crosses the Chickahominy about a mile above; the centre was also on the Chickahominy and in close communication with the left, and the right a few miles N. of the centre, near Cold Harbor, which it occupied on the succeeding day, and where Gen. McClellan established his head

quarters. The confederates offering but slight resistance at Bottom's bridge or the railroad bridge, a strong force under Gen. Naglee, of Keyes's corps, crossed the latter structure, and reconnoitred the right bank of the stream for several miles; while the right wing, after occupying New bridge, over which the road from Cold Harbor to Richmond passes, pushed forward on the 24th to Mechanicsville, a village near the Chickahominy, about 5 m. W. of Cold Harbor. This place was taken by Gen. Stoneman after a smart skirmish, and on the same day the confederates were driven from the vicinity of New bridge toward Richmond, one of their regiments, the 5th Louisiana ("Tigers"), being badly cut up by the 4th Michigan. About the same time Gen. McClellan fixed his head-quarters midway between Cold Harbor and New bridge. On the 24th also Gen. Naglee pushed a reconnoissance westward along the Williamsburg road to a place called the Seven Pines, about 6 m. from Richmond, and during the next 2 days advanced a mile and a half further, establishing a line of pickets from this point across the railroad (which after crossing the Chickahominy runs N. of and nearly parallel to the Williamsburg road) to a house near New bridge known as the "old tavern." On the evening of the 26th the Union lines resembled in form the letter V, one leg of which extended along the Chickahominy from Bottom's bridge, the point of divergence, to Meadow bridge, near Mechanicsville, a distance of about 12 m., and the other from Bottom's bridge to the furthest point reached by Naglee. This line was occupied by the left wing, the main body of which lay around Seven Pines, Casey's division of Keyes's corps holding the most advanced position. The right wing and the centre still occupied the left bank of the river, and the latter body, encamped between New bridge and the railroad bridge, was busily employed in building bridges to afford additional communications with the troops on the other side. The Chickahominy is here a muddy stream, full of quicksands, and for many miles around Richmond is skirted by gloomy swamps, which immediately south of the railroad expand into an area about 10 m. in length by 5 in breadth, known as the White Oak swamp. It extends almost to the James river, and is traversed by a few main roads. The whole belt of country between the river and the city is for the most part woody and swampy, and during the warm season is prolific of miasmatic diseases. Ever since Richmond had been threatened in the previous year the confederates had been engaged in erecting fortifications for its defence, and the besieging army upon arriving on the Chickahominy found the place encircled by a series of strong earthworks constructed in the most skilful manner and mounted with many heavy guns. These defences were most formidable on the N. side of the city, the confederates not anticipating an attack from any other quarter; and so energetically had the work

been prosecuted, that subsequent to June 1 little remained to be done. The garrison of Richmond consisted of the army which had retreated from Yorktown, with troops called in from other places, the whole comprising a force perhaps not inferior to that of the besiegers. During the progress of the latter toward the Chickahominy, Norfolk had been abandoned by the confederates (May 10), the garrison retiring upon Richmond, and on the same day the Merrimac, which had so long obstructed the passage of the Union gunboats up the James, was blown up by order of her commander. An expedition, comprising among other vessels the iron-clad Monitor, Galena, and Naugatuck, immediately ascended the river, driving the enemy from the earthworks erected along the lower James, and capturing many guns. On the 17th the 3 iron-clad vessels engaged Fort Darling, a strong work situated on a bluff, 8 m. below Richmond, and which was mounted with a number of heavy rifled cannon. A short dis tance above the fort the stream was effectually obstructed by two separate barriers formed of piles, steamboats, and various river craft. The Galena, which bore the brunt of the battle, was after 3 hours' incessant firing obliged to retire with her plating pierced in many places by the enemy's steel-pointed balls. The Naugatuck's single gun burst at the 8th discharge, although the vessel itself was uninjured, and the Monitor, which stood 3 hours' fighting without the slightest injury, was unable to elevate her guns sufficiently to strike the fort. By noon the gunboats drew off with a loss of 13 killed and 14 wounded, and no further attempt was made to ascend the river beyond this point. Although the news of the destruction of the Merrimac reached Gen. McClellan before the army had fairly left Williamsburg, he made no change in the plan of the campaign, nor did he show a desire to operate along the line of James river, as is said to have been his original intention. On this subject it is observed in an article pubblished in the Revue des deux mondes for Oct. 1862, and ascribed to the prince de Joinville, who accompanied the army as a sort of volunteer aid to Gen. McClellan: "Gen. McClellan ought, immediately after receiving the news of the destruction of the Merrimac, to have abandoned the plan of campaign he had adopted, and by a rapid flank march to have gained the James river, where he could operate in connection with the gunboats. I am now inclined to think this would have been his best move. It is true that the march from the Pamunkey to the James river would have been attended with danger. The passage of the lower Chickahominy or of the James river, should the commanderin-chief have decided to operate on the right bank of that stream, would have proved a difficult and delicate movement in the presence of a large confederate force. But it would have been preferable to keeping the army for a month in their dismal position among the swamps of the Chickahominy."-At daybreak

of May 27, Gen. Morell's division of Fitz John Porter's corps, which occupied the extreme right of the Union line, started in the midst of a heavy rain for Hanover Court House, a point on the Virginia central railroad about 15 m. N. of Richmond, the object of the expedition being to destroy the railroad. The advanced guard, comprising a regiment of infantry, with a few cavalry and two guns, encountered the enemy some miles S. of Hanover Court House, and occupied their attention, while several regiments of Gen. Butterfield's brigade took a position which flanked their left wing. The confederates, supposing they had but a small force to deal with, were completely deceived by this movement, and after a few volleys broke and fled in the direction of the village, closely followed by the Union troops, who captured in the pursuit a number of prisoners, guns, and small arms. At the village a portion of the Union troops halted to pull up the railroad track, while a strong force continued the pursuit. At this moment a large reënforcement of confederates approached in the rear, and vigorously attacked the brigade thus separated from the main body. The Union forces maintained their position with great obstinacy until rejoined by the remainder of the division, when a flank movement precisely similar to that executed in the early part of the day was attempted. The enemy were again broken, and took refuge within a dense wood, under cover of which they continued their flight toward Richmond. The victors, after completing the destruction of the railroad and of other valuable property at Hanover Court House, returned to the Chickahominy with more than 600 prisoners, beside several cannon and numerous small arms, having experienced a loss of 350 in killed and wounded. The total confederate loss amounted to 1,500.-During the next few days continual skirmishing went on between the hostile armies, whose positions remained relatively the same; and on the 31st the corps of Keyes and Heintzelman were still the only portion of McClellan's army that had crossed the river. Of these, the former was extended along the Williamsburg road, the advance under Gen. Casey being within 44 m. of Richmond, and the corps of Heintzelman was at the Seven Pines, 14 m. in the rear. The whole country occupied by these troops was flat and woody, and in many places swampy. Gen. Sumner's corps, which remained on the left bank of the Chickahominy, had by this time constructed two practicable bridges between the railroad bridge and New bridge. The afternoon of the 30th was marked by one of the severest thunder storms of the season, and the rain, falling incessantly for 10 hours, so swelled the Chickahominy and its numerous small tributaries as to render the passage by the new bridges hazardous, and in a measure to cut off communications between the troops of Keyes and Heintzelman and the main body of the Union army. Under these circumstances the confederate general Joseph

E. Johnston, supposing that he had to deal with no other troops than those of Keyes, determined to crush this corps by an overwhelming attack before the floods should subside sufficiently to allow of succors being brought up. He was apparently unaware that Heintzelman was within supporting distance of Keyes. The plan of battle of Johnston contemplated an attack early on the morning of the 31st by two corps under Gens. D. H. Hill and Longstreet along the Williamsburg road, and simultaneous flank movements on the right and left of the Union position by Gens. G. W. Smith and Huger, the former moving by the New bridge road, and the latter by a road passing 3 m. S. of the Seven Pines, called the Charles City road. The troops however moved slowly over the deluged ground, and Huger became so involved among the swamps through which his route lay, and where his artillery stuck fast for hours, that Longstreet, who commanded the centre, after waiting until midday for intelligence that he had reached his position, decided to commence the attack without him. Huger's troops never got out of the swamps during the day, and took no part in the engagement. The defences with which Casey had strengthened his position consisted of a redoubt and line of rifle pits, with a partially formed abatis some distance in front; and upon these a portion of his men were still at work when the pickets were driven in by the enemy. The 103d Pennsylvania regiment, sent forward as skirmishers, suddenly encountered the united forces of Longstreet and Hill, and were in a moment broken and scattered by a tremendous volley of musketry. Gen. Casey then drew up his division in front of the redoubt and rifle pits, and with 3 batteries commenced a rapid fire of spherical case shot and canister upon the dense columns of the enemy, which opened in long furrows at each discharge. The ranks closed up again rapidly, and so vigorous was the onset that Casey's troops were driven behind their earthworks, from which they further retreated, contesting the ground inch by inch, behind the division of Gen. Couch, drawn up half a mile in the rear of the redoubt, between the Williamsburg road and Fair Oaks station on the railroad. For 3 hours they had withstood an enemy nearly 6 times as numerous, and retired only when they had lost a third of their force engaged, and were in danger of being surrounded. Their camp and several guns necessarily fell into the enemy's hands. Couch for a while withstood the force of the attack, but was finally driven back upon Gen. Heintzelman's corps, which had arrived to the support of Casey and Couch, and was accompanied by Gen. McClellan. At this moment the fresh confederate corps of Smith, accompanied by Johnston in person, appeared upon the field, and Heintzelman, finding himself greatly outnumbered and in danger of being flanked, retired along the Williamsburg road to a short distance beyond the Seven Pines. Couch, however, moving with a single

brigade too far to the right, got separated from the main body of his troops, and was for some time in a critical position, exposed to the attacks of Smith, who was endeavoring to turn this part of the Union line. Shortly before 6 o'clock in the afternoon the head of Sedgwick's column, of Sumner's corps, long anxiously awaited by the beaten and disheartened troops of Heintzelman and Keyes, was seen toiling through the mud and rain toward the field. Sumner had received orders at 3 o'clock to bring his corps across the river, and, contrary to the calculations of the confederates, one of the bridges constructed by him was so little injured by the flood as to admit of the passage of Sedgwick's division. The distance to the battle field was less than 5 miles, but the severity of the storm caused the troops to be nearly 3 hours on the march. The other bridge was attempted by Richardson's division and found to be impracticable, and the delay caused by the necessity of marching his troops to the uninjured bridge prevented that general from arriving on the field in time to take part in the battle. Just as Sumner's troops appeared in sight Gen. Johnston was struck from his horse by the fragment of a shell, and for a while utter confusion prevailed on the confederate left, which might have been turned to considerable advantage by the Union generals had they been aware of the fact. Gen. Smith, who assumed the command in chief, leaving a portion of his troops to keep Heintzelman in check, at once prepared to meet the approaching Union reenforcements. Sumner, who accompanied Sedgwick's division, drew up his troops near the handful under Couch, in a line facing S., a little N. of the railroad, and in the vicinity of Fair Oaks station. The confederates soon appeared in their front, and charged with desperate energy up to the muzzles of the few cannon which had been dragged to the spot, but wavered and broke before the incessant discharges of canister. Twice afterward they renewed the attack, and were as often repulsed with frightful loss, the troops of Sedgwick finally driving them at the point of the bayonet within the cover of a thick wood, and retaining possession of the field with all the confederate dead and wounded. Just at dark the division of Richardson came up and took position in front of Sedgwick. Upon learning this disaster the columns which had been engaged with Heintzelman fell back half a mile along the Williamsburg road, Gens. Kearny and Hooker of Heintzelman's corps immediately occupying the ground vacated by them, and both armies bivouacked for the night on the field of battle. Early the next morning, Sunday, June 1, the whole Union line, occupying both sides of the railroad, was simultaneously advanced, and the enemy after a brief resistance retired in confusion through the plundered camps of Casey and Couch beyond Fair Oaks, where the pursuit ceased. The latter position was immediately occupied in