11. Elaborate Trickery to Halt a Much Stronger Enemy
General Magruder took advantage of the small Warwick River which separated him from the advancing federal forces. The Confederate commander set out to convince his Union opposite, General McClellan, that the river’s fourteen-mile length on the opposite bank was heavily fortified and strongly garrisoned. While the fortifications were real, Magruder lacked the men to occupy them in any strength that could have stopped McClellan had he attacked. Magruder directed his forces to create a din, with drumrolls and men cheering in the woods behind the lines, to fool their foes into believing there were far more Confederates in the vicinity than was the case.
He also employed the same column of men over and over. They would march within sight of the federals to take up positions on the defensive line, then slip away outside the Union observers’ line of sight, reassemble in column, and march back to the defense line to take up defensive positions once more. With such theatrics, Magruder convinced McClellan that the Confederate positions were too strong for a frontal attack. It was a task made easier by McClellan’s predisposition to take counsel of his fears and believe himself outnumbered.
