eight at
night
Gallant Vicksburg 's batteries barred the Mississippi ; Beauregard and Price , lion-hearted idols of the West , held the Federal army in Corinth at bay ; Stonewall Jackson -- synonym of victory -- after sweeping like a whirlwind through the Valley , and scattering the columns that stealthily crept southward , had arrived at Richmond at the appointed time . A greater than Serrurier , at a grander than Castiglone , he gave the signal to begin ; and as a sheet of flame flashed along the sombre forests of Chickahominy , the nation held its breath , and watched the brilliant Seven Days ' conflict , which converted twenty-six miles of swamp and forest into a vast necropolis . During Friday the wounded came slowly in , and at four in the afternoon the roar of artillery told that the Battle of Gaines Mill was raging : that the enemy were fighting desperately , behind entrenchments which none but Confederate soldiers could successfully have assaulted . Until eight at night the houses trembled at every report of cannon , and then McClellan 's grand army , crippled and bleeding , dragged itself away , under cover of darkness , to the south bank of the Chickahominy . Saturday saw a temporary lull in the iron storm ; but the wounded continued to arrive , and the devoted women of the city rose from their knees to minister to the needs of these numerous sufferers . Sunday found our troops feeling about the swamps for the retreating foe ; and once more , late in the afternoon , distant thunder resounded from the severely contested field of Savage 's Station , whence the enemy again retreated . On Sabbath morning Irene learned that Russell 's command had joined in the pursuit ; and during that day and night , as the conflict drifted farther southward , and details became necessarily more meagre , her anxiety increased .