Their conduct,
he said, ranked them among the most celebrated armies of history.
Under every disadvantage of numbers, and necessarily of position
also, they had in every conflict beaten back their foes with enormous
slaughter. They had reached the new base complete in organisation and
unimpaired in spirit.* (* O.R. volume 11 part 3 page 299.)
It is possible that this address soothed the pride of his troops. It
certainly deluded neither his own people nor the South. The immediate
effect of his strategic manoeuvre was startling.
5000 men, the effective remnant of Shields' division, besides several
new regiments, were sent to the Peninsula from the army protecting
Washington. General Burnside, who had mastered a portion of the North
Carolina coast, was ordered to suspend operations, to leave a
garrison in New Berne, and to bring the remainder of his army to
Fortress Monroe. Troops were demanded from General Hunter, who had
taken the last fort which defended Savannah, the port of Georgia.* (*
The forces under Burnside and Hunter amounted to some 35,000 men.)
The Western army of the Union was asked to reinforce McClellan, and
Lincoln called on the Northern States for a fresh levy.
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