Some, adopting his own nomenclature, have called this a change of base; some, less euphemistically, speak of it as a retreat.  According to General Webb, it may be called either the one or the other with equal propriety, for it partook of the features of each.[24] It is no part of the biographer of Lincoln to narrate the suffering and the gallantry of the troops through those seven days of continuous fighting and marching, during which they made their painful way, in the face of an attacking army, through the dismal swamps of an unwholesome region, amid the fierce and humid heats of the Southern summer.  On July 1 they closed the dread experience by a brilliant victory in the desperate, prolonged, and bloody battle of Malvern Hill.

In the course of this march a letter was sent by McClellan to Stanton which has become famous.  The vindictive lunge, visibly aimed at the secretary, was really designed, piercing this lesser functionary, to reach the President.  Even though written amid the strain and stress of the most critical and anxious moment of the terrible “Seven Days,” the words were unpardonable.  The letter is too long to be given in full, but the closing sentences were:—­

“I know that a few thousand more men would have changed this battle[25] from a defeat to a victory.  As it is, the government must not and cannot hold me responsible for the result.  I feel too earnestly to-night.  I have seen too many dead and wounded comrades to feel otherwise than that the government has not sustained this army.  If you do not do so now, the game is lost.  If I save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you or to any other persons in Washington.  You have done your best to sacrifice this army."[26] It was safe to write thus to Mr. Lincoln, whose marvelous magnanimity was never soiled by a single act of revenge; but the man who addressed such language to Stanton secured a merciless and unscrupulous enemy forever.

Though, at the close of this appalling week, the troops at last were conquerors on the banks of the James, they were in a position not permanently tenable, and before they could rest they had to fall back another march to Harrison’s Landing.  The rear guard reached this haven on the night of July 3, and the army, thus at last safely placed and in direct communication with the fleet and the transports, was able to recuperate,[27] while those in authority considered of the future.  Certain facts were established:  first, concerning the army,—­that before it met the baptism of heavy fighting it had been brought into a splendid condition of drill and efficiency, and that by that baptism, so severe and so long continued, it had come as near as volunteers could come to the excellence of veterans and regulars; also that it was at least a match for its opponents; and, finally, strange to say, it was very slightly demoralized, would soon again be in condition for an advance, and felt full confidence and strong affection for its commander.