Remember, my son, that had Washington fallen the nation had
perished. To this remarkable siege, then, and its results, let all
the succeeding glories of this great Republic be attributed.
As I have told you before, my son, after the first battle of
Manassas, when our militia did such good running, there was nothing
to prevent the rebels from entering and capturing it but the few
hastily constructed forts, or t?tes de pont, on the Virginia side.
Nor could these have offered any resistance worth naming. Our
demoralized troops, however, never halted until they got safe inside
of them. And but for these forts, weak as they were, the city would
have fallen. When General McClellan assumed command, he saw at once
the necessity of properly fortifying the city. And the nation ought
never to forget him for his decision. Experienced engineers, with
large gangs of laborers, were set to work throwing up these huge
masses of earthwork. To this was added the labor of a large number
of the troops of the Army of the Potomac, during its organization in
the autumn and winter of 1861 and 1862. When, therefore, the army
moved for the Peninsula in the spring of 1862, the city was so
strongly fortified that it was considered safe by General McClellan
and his corps commanders.
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