w^^ / 
 
 ^Li 
 
 
 
THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE WILMER COLLECTION 
 OF CIVIL WAR NOVELS 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 RICHARD H. WILMER, JR. 
 
i^MU. 
 
>lm 
 
 •*^ 
 
i 
 
NEW NOVELS 
 
 BY 
 
 JOBir ssT£:iq- cooics:. 
 
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 I FAIEFAX 
 
 IL— HILT TO HILT 
 
 nL— HAMMER AND RAPIER. 
 
 All published uniform with this volume. Sold everywhere, 
 and sent by maiiyre« on receipt of price, by 
 O. TF. CA.KI«ET01ir, 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
Hammer and Rapiee. 
 
 JOHN ESTEN COOKE, 
 
 AUTUOS OF 
 
 "SXmBY OF EAGLES' NEST," "FAIRFAX,' "HILT TO HILT," ETC. 
 
 *&. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 Carleton, Publisher, Madison Square. 
 
 LONDON: S. LOW, SON, & CO, 
 MDCCCLXX. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 
 
 GEO. W. CABLETOX, 
 
 In the Clerk's OflBce of the District Court of the United States for the Sonthem 
 
 District of New York. 
 
 Stereotyped at the 
 WOMEN'S PRINTING HOUSE, 
 Cor. Avenue A and Sth St., New York. , 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 L 
 
 PAGX 
 
 Manassas 11 
 
 n. 
 
 Port Republic "' 85 
 
 ni 
 
 Seven Pines and the Seven Days .... 64 
 
 IV. 
 The Second Manassas 89 
 
 V. 
 Shakpsbukq . . • . 115 
 
 VL 
 
 Fredericksbubq .^ . . . 143 
 
 vn. 
 
 Chancellorsville 168 
 
 vnL 
 
 Gettysburg 197 
 
 602782 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 EL 
 
 The WiLDEnyESS — May 1864 228 
 
 By the Left Flakk, from the "Horseshoe" to the 
 Crater 245 
 
 XL 
 Early's Battles 265 
 
 xn, 
 
 Lee's Retreat and Surrendeb . • • , . 285 
 
HAMMEE MD RAPIER. 
 
 MANASSAS. 
 
 On the night of the 17th of fJulj, 1861, a man, 
 standing upon the earthworks at Manassas, was look- 
 ing toward Centreville. 
 
 This man was of medium height — thin, but mus- 
 cular — with a sallow countenance, lips covered by a 
 heavy black mustache, scant locks at the temples, and 
 deep, dark eyes, in which might be read the slum- 
 brous spirit of "fight" observable in the eyes of the 
 blood-hound. 
 
 As he looked, silent and motionless, toward Cen- 
 treville, something which resembled a shooting star 
 rose slowly from the summit of the woods, des- 
 cribed a curve, and then descended. Another fol- 
 lowed ; then another, red and baleful. 
 
 Thirty minutes afterwards the hoof-strokes of a 
 horseman were heard; a voice asked for General 
 Beauregard ; the silent man went forward, and 
 opening the dispatch which the com-ier brought, per- 
 used it with calm attention. That dispatch an- 
 
 (11) 
 
12 MAIiASSAS. 
 
 nonnced that Gen. Boiiliam, commanding the ad- 
 vance force of the Southern army, had retired before 
 the "Grand Army" of- the United States, and was 
 now in position npon the heights of CentrcA'ille, six 
 miles from Manassas. 
 
 "What was the "Grand Army," and upon what 
 errand had it come ? The reply to these questions 
 would fill an octavo, but fortimately everybody can 
 answer them without prompting. The great masses 
 of blue soldiers — infantry, cavalry, and artillery — 
 had come to "crush the rebellion," by one great "on 
 to Kichmond ; " a sliort, sharp, and decisive cam- 
 paign was to terminate all, and the broken chain of 
 the Union would be mended promptly by the huge 
 clashin^: sledsre-hammer of battle. 
 
 In regard to the time required to effect this end, 
 there was little difference of opinion at the Korth. 
 One journalist wrote, " The nations of Europe may 
 rest assured that Jeff. Davis & Co. ^vill be swinsrins: 
 from the battlements of Washington, at least by the 
 Pourth of July ; we spit upon a later and longer 
 deferred justice." Another said, " Let us make quick 
 work ; the ' rebellion,' as some people designate it, is 
 an unborn tadpole — a 'local commotion' — a strong, 
 active pull together will do our work effectually in 
 thirty days." A third said, "Xo man of sense can 
 for a moment doubt that this much-ado-about-noth- 
 ing will end in a month. The rebels, a mere band 
 of ragamuffins, will fly like chaff before the wind of 
 om' approach." 
 
 These vaticinations had inspired the people of the 
 North with a sort of madness. The thirst for battle 
 
 if 
 
3fA]}fASSAS. ■ 13 
 
 and conquest bnrncd in every vein. Yast crowds 
 of volunteers rushed to the standard, and in their 
 hands Avcre placed the best and most approved wea- 
 pons for the great blow to bo struck at the South. 
 
 At the beginning of July this arni}^ numbered over 
 fifty thousand men, and never did troops take the' 
 field more admirably equipped. Long trains of ex- 
 cellent rifled artillery; rilled muskets, with barrels 
 shining like silver ; carbines, pistols, sabres ; luxurious 
 rations, preserved meats, condensed milk, coffee al- 
 ready ground and mingled v/ith sugar, wines, cor- 
 dials, liqueurs ; ' havelocks ' to keep off the burning 
 southern sun, busldns to exclude the southern dust, 
 oilcloths to protect from southern dews — such were 
 some of the appliances for fighting and campaign- 
 ing which the men of the Grand Army brought 
 with them when they advanced upon Manassas. 
 
 At that place, soon to become historic, Beauregard 
 awaited them, with twenty thousand men, which he 
 had disposed behind earthworks along the southern 
 bank of Bull Eun — a little stream which, risino* in 
 the neighborhood of Aldie, winds about amid fields 
 and roads until it falls into the Occoquan. 
 
 'We have seen that, on the ITth of July, the Grand 
 Army had pushed forward to Centreville after Bon- 
 ham, who retired before them. Thev had P-utted 
 Annandale and Fairfax ; burned Germanto^vn ; con- 
 tinued their way ; and now, on the night of this 17th 
 of July, paused in front of the Centreville Heights to 
 take breath before advancing upon the muzzles of the 
 Southern cannon. 
 
 Beauregard was quickly in the saddle, and com-iers 
 2 
 
14 MANASSAS. 
 
 were seen galloping in every direction, carrv'ing orders 
 to the Yarious commanders. Tfiese orders were: 
 Get the troops nnder arms; form line of battle; 
 the enemy will be here at daylight. 
 
 A solitary officer at the same time left Manassas at 
 full speed, and disappeared toward the mountains. 
 He carried to Gen. Johnson, facing Patterson in the 
 Valley, the message from Beauregard : " If you wish 
 to help me, now is the time." 
 
 Beam'e<xard hastened then toward the fi'ont. On 
 the way, an officer said to him : 
 
 " The battle will be here. General ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 ." The battle of ' Bull Kun.' That is a bad name." 
 
 " It is as good as ^ The Cowpens,' was the reply." 
 
 At midnight the troops were in line of battle, 
 grasping their muskets, or crouching beside the can- 
 non, whose grim muzzles gleamed in tlie watch-fires. 
 
 Beauregard's right, under Ewell, was at Union 
 Mills; his centre, under Longstreet, at Blackburn's 
 and Mitchell's fords ; his left, imder Cocke and 
 Evans, near Stonebridge, in front of whose pictur- 
 esque brown arch the huge trees had been felled, 
 forming an abattis. This line was eight miles long. 
 
 The first attack was expected at Mitchell's ford, 
 the centre of the Southern line where, behind the 
 cannon frownino: from the embrasures above the 
 ford and level stretcli beyond, the gray infantry 
 were lying in line of battle, in the pine thickets. 
 
 Toward daylight a dull, muffled sound came borne 
 upon the wind from the direction of Centreville. It 
 was Bonham's column falling back. Then some sliots 
 
MAJVASSjiS. 15 
 
 resounded, — the calvary rear guard were skirmishing 
 with the advance of the enemy. 
 
 Then, as day approached, dusky gray masses appeared 
 beyond the stream ; the rumble of artillery made the 
 woods murmur ; half an hour afterwards Bonham was 
 within the lines. 
 
 As broad day dawned, a sudden roar came from the 
 hill beyond the stream, — Kemper's battery, which had 
 just saluted the advancing enemy, came back at a gal- 
 lop — the signal gun of the fii'st Manassas had .been 
 fii-ed. 
 
 An hour afterwards the Grand Army was in face of 
 Beauregard — their splendid cavalry was seen opening 
 right and left, and unmasking their superb artillery, — 
 a thundering salvo came, the shell tearing through the 
 trees, and blowing up caissons — the drama had begun. 
 
 The first design of Gen. McDowell, commanding 
 the Federal army had been to turn the Southern right. 
 " My personal reconnoissance of the roads to the South," 
 he wrote, "had shown that it was not practicable to* 
 carry out the original plan of turning the enemy's 
 position on their right. 
 
 The alternative, therefore, was to turn the extreme 
 left of his position." What is called " The Battle of 
 the Eighteenth " showed Gen. McDowell the imprac- 
 ticable nature of his first desio:n. 
 
 This was scarcely more than a skirmish, but an ob- 
 stinate one. Longstreet was there at Blackburn's ford, 
 with twelve hmidred muskets — the troops occuppng 
 the level, low grounds, unprotected, except by a sort of 
 elongated mole hill, which they had thrown up with 
 their bayonets. Behind this they were lying down. 
 
16 MAITASSAS. 
 
 On the opposite side of the stream, the ground was 
 hiirh, wooded, and excellent for attack. The advance 
 force of the enemy occupying it was about three 
 thousand infantry, with artillery. 
 
 At ten o'clock the attack began, under cover of an 
 artillery fire, and Longstreet's advance was speedily 
 di'iven across the stream. Then the enemy pressed 
 forward with cheers. 
 
 But they gained nothing. They were met by a close 
 and destructive fire of musketry, and fell back. Then 
 they charged again, and Avere again repulsed. They 
 charged a third time, — nearly gained the bank, but 
 were driven back at the point of the bayonet, and 
 retired. 
 
 Longstreet, calm, silent, and smoking liis cigar, went 
 to his artillery on the slope in rear, and directed the 
 " duel " which now began between the opposing guns. 
 His battery was the " Washington Artilleiy " of Xew 
 Orleans, and it fii*ed superbly. After four years' fight- 
 ing, in half a hundred battles, it attained no greater 
 skill than it displayed in this first action. As the guns 
 now ojDened, and the enemy replied, — their shell tear- 
 ing doAvn limbs of trees, and screaming Hke unloosed 
 de^dls, — the infantry, crouching in the plain, looked 
 up with a sort of wondering, childish curiosity. "\^nien 
 a sudden crash across the stream was heard, and a 
 cloud of smoke rose fi*om a blown-up caisson, they 
 laughed and cheered like school-boys. 
 
 Tlie assault on Lons^street showed that Beaure£rard's 
 right could not be turned. As to his centre, at Mitch- 
 ell's ford, there was even less hope of breaking through 
 the earth-works bristling with cannon, behind which, 
 
MANASSAS. 17 
 
 in the pines, were drawn np the long lines of bayonets. 
 Even if the blue masses were able to sweep over those 
 sullen war-dogs, awaiting with grim muzzles and burn- 
 ing port lires, like the glare of red eyes, they would 
 find still in their path beyond, that obstinate hedge 
 of steel behind vv'hich the linrhtnino: slumbered. The 
 centre, — on the straight road to Manassas, — was thns 
 even less *'•' practicable " than the right. The left only 
 remained. 
 
 It was to the left, then, that the brave and skillful 
 McDowell turned his eyes. There is no evidence that 
 he was disheartened. Jle had about fifty thousand in- 
 fantry, nine regiments of cavalry, and twelve batteries 
 of rified artillery, numbering forty-nine gmis. Beau- 
 regard had twenty-one thousand eight hundred and 
 thirty-three muskets, twenty-nine pieces of artillery, 
 almost all smooth-bore, and about three comiDanies of 
 cavalry, — for Johnston, it must be remembered, had 
 not yet arrived. Thus McDowell could bring more 
 than two to one of all anus, against his adversary. 
 
 Does any reader question the accuracy of this state- 
 ment? We reply that Gen. Beauregard is our au- 
 thority. His own numbers he states ofiicially; the 
 enemy's he states npon Federal authority. 
 
 It will thus be understood that General McDowell 
 did not despair. As to the army, and the great crowd 
 of camp-followers, they would have regarded the ex- 
 pression of a doubt as to the ultimate result, a species 
 of insult. Xever did a stranger or more motley rout 
 than that crowd of hangers-on, assemble in the wake 
 of an army. A ship leaves foam in its wake as it- 
 moves, — the Grand Army seemed to carry with it a 
 3* 
 
18 MAJVASSAS. 
 
 great mass of scum. Editors, idlei*s, Congressmen, 
 correspondents, ladies even, flocked to Centreville as 
 to a festival. IN'one seemed to regard it as a festival 
 of death at all, but rather as a day of carnival. While 
 waiting for the thunder from " the mysterious Virginia 
 woods," the crowd moved to and fro, ruffled its plumes, 
 rustled its sillvS, drank its champagne, cracked its jests, 
 made its bets, and speculated upon the delightful jaunt 
 it would malvC to Richmond, after riding over the bat- 
 tle-field, strewed with the rebel dead, — once their 
 brethren. 
 
 Does any reader say that l:his is rhetoric — mere 
 fancy ? Alas ! it is true ; and whether it pleases or 
 offends matters little. Truth is no respecter of events 
 or persons, and is her own vindication. It was the late 
 Mr. Lincoln who nttered that profound and solemn 
 maxim, worthy of the great monarch of the Jews, — 
 " You cannot avoid history ! " 
 
 That singular spectacle took place on Friday and 
 Saturday, the 19th and 20th of July. Gen. McDowell 
 had no part in it. There is a personage more bitter, 
 bloody, and implacable* than the soldier: it is the civil- 
 ian. The Federal commander had too great a weight 
 npon his shoulders to laugh and caper. The great 
 problem was unsolved ; Beauregard was still in his 
 path ; the perilous flank movement of the United States 
 forces against the Confederate left absorbed McDowell's 
 whole attention. 
 
 On the southern side of Bull Run the aspect of 
 affairs had undergone a very great change. The 
 officer sent to Johnston had killed his horse, but he 
 had delivered his message in time. By noon on 
 
MANASSAS. 19 
 
 Saturday, the 20th, the bulk of Johnston's " Army 
 of the Shenandoah" — about 8,000 men — was at 
 Manassas. At midnight, Johnston, the cold, cahn, 
 silent Virginian, was consulting with Beauregard, 
 the fiery, but self-possessed and reticent Creole. 
 Upon the tanned and ruddy face of Johnston, with 
 its English side-whiskei*s, its fixed gray eye, and 
 iron mouth, as upon the brunette countenance of 
 Beauregard vdth. its "fighting jaw," broad brow, and 
 eyes inflamed by watching, was seen by those around 
 them, the expression of a finn and moveless purpose. 
 
 That was to deliver battle where they were, to put 
 all upon the issue, and to drive the enemy back, or 
 die. 
 
 An army leader should have the spring of the 
 tiger, and the obstinate hold of the bull-dog. It is 
 not mere eulogy but truth to say that the Yirginian 
 and the Louisianian had both — the first more of the 
 the last — the last more of the first. 
 
 At two hours past midnight — that is to say, to- 
 ward dawn of Sunday, July the 21st, couriers reached 
 Manassas with important intelligence. A reconnois- 
 sance beyond the stream, in fi*ont of Stonebridge, 
 had developed the fact that Gen. McDowell was 
 massing his army on the Warrenton road, leading 
 from Centre ville across Stonebridge, toward the 
 South, and that every probability existed of an at- 
 tack in force, at an early hour in the morning, upon 
 the Confederate left. 
 
 Sitting in a private room of the small house at 
 Manassas, which Beauregard then occupied as his 
 head-quarters, the two Generals listened to this in- 
 
20 MANASSAS. 
 
 telligence, dismissed every one, consulted, and de- 
 termined npon their plan of action. 
 
 It was simple, and was suggested by Beauregard 
 — that active, ^dgorous, and trenchant mind of cul- 
 tivated acumen and trained genius. As soon as the 
 movements of the enemy had fully established the de- 
 sign attributed ta them to turn the Southern left flank, 
 the Confederate right and centre was to throw itself 
 across Bull Hun, advance straight upon Centreville, 
 assail the Federal forces in flank and reverse, and cut 
 off, break to pieces, and capture or destroy them. 
 
 This movement required coolness, nerve, and skill. 
 Ewell, Longstreet, and Bonham were relied on. At 
 four o'clock the plan was all arranged ; orders were 
 sent to the commanders of the right and centre to hold 
 their troops in hand to move upon the enemy at a 
 moment's warning; then the two Generals waited, 
 watching the day as it slowly dawned beyond the belt 
 of woods. 
 
 It was ushered in with a low continuous thunder, in 
 the direction of Stonebridge ; and above the tree-tops 
 rose those clouds of snowy smoke which mark the field 
 of battle. 
 
 "What was the origin of that menacing cloud, which 
 shone against the blue sky, lit by the first beams of 
 day? 
 
 The reply is easy. 
 
 During the entire night. General McDowell had 
 been moving. Leaving behind liim at Centreville a 
 rear-guard of fifteen or twenty thousand men, he had 
 pushed liis main body forward, over a narrow and al- 
 most unknown road, through the sombre depths of the 
 
MANASSAS. 21 
 
 " Big Forest," emerged frora its shadow, and was now 
 hastening forward to deliver the gigantic blow which 
 his active brain had planned in his tent at Centreville. 
 
 His plan was excellent : while Hunter and Heint- 
 zelmen, with their strong divisions, pushed for Sudley 
 ford, beyond the Confederate left, strong bodies were 
 to take position opposite Stonebridge, Hed House, and 
 other fords, with orders to divert the attention of 
 Beauregard by heavy demonstrations, as though de- 
 signing there to pass the stream. Under cover of 
 these feints, the column of Hunter was to cross at 
 Sudley; sweep down, clearing in succession every 
 ford ; the forces opposite were then to pass over — 
 thus a body of about forty thousand men would be 
 concentrated at sunrise on the southern bank of Bull 
 Hun, directly upon Beauregard's left flank. 
 
 Then the game would be as good as won. The Con- 
 federates were scattered all along the stream over a 
 distance of eight miles, and several hours would be re- 
 quired to concentrate a suflicient body near Stone- 
 bridge. But before that could be done, the issue 
 would be decided. Falling like lightning lipon the 
 southern flank. General Hunter had it in his power to 
 drive all before him : Beauregard must hastily evacu- 
 ate his works, and fall back on Manassas ; then a bat- 
 tle of two against one — the one retreating rapidly, the 
 two hotly pursuing. 
 
 Such was Hunter's plan, and it seemed at daylight 
 sure of success. His column pushed on steadily ; 
 passed Bull Hun and the little Catharpin ; moved on, 
 without pausing ; and at half -past eight was almost 
 within sight of the Confederate left. 
 
22 MANAJSSAB, 
 
 What was that left ? 
 
 The reply will sound ludicrous. It was eleven 
 hundred men, and four smooth-bore six-pounders. 
 
 One thing, it is true, counted. The infantry were 
 Alabamians, Mississippians, and Georgians, command- 
 ed by such men as Wheat. The artiller}^ were Yir- 
 ginians, commanded by that hrave, Gray Latham. 
 The whole was led by Evans, that veritable grizzly 
 bear, with the shaggy beard, and the flashing eyes, who 
 was to inflict upon the enemy, three months from this 
 day, the bloody disaster of Ball's Bluff. 
 
 He was opposite Stonebridge, and the Federal force 
 across the stream had duly made the demonstrations 
 ordered, both with infantry and artillery. A swarm 
 of sharpshooters had made repeated feints to cross, 
 firing rapidly as they did so ; and the rattle 'of these 
 popguns, mingled with the roar of the Federal artil- 
 lery, completely diverted Evans' attention from the 
 thunderbolt about to fall upon his rear, from the di- 
 rection of Sudley. 
 
 It was nearly nine o'clock before that approaching 
 fate sent its long, warning shadow on before, to his 
 position near the bridge. Then the whole extent of 
 the mortal peril menacing him, became obnous. A 
 mounted man came at a thundering gallop to announce 
 that a great host of the enemy were closing in upon 
 his rear to crush his little force like an egg-shell. 
 
 Evans acted as he always did — like the heart of 
 oak he was. Taking eight hundred of his eleven hun- 
 dred infantry, and two of his four six-pounders, he 
 hm'ried to the scene of danger, and at a point on the 
 
MJJ^ASSAS. 23 
 
 Sndley-Brentsville road, west of the Stone House, 
 struck full against the front of Hunter. 
 
 A single glance revealed the whole extent of the 
 danger. Directly before the eight-hundred men and 
 two guns of Evans, were the sixteen thousand men 
 of Hunter, ^vith seven companies of cavalry, and 
 twenty-four pieces of artillery. Opposite Eed House 
 ford, the force of General Keyes was about to cross ; 
 that at Stonebridge was closing in ; more than thirty 
 thousand men would soon be opposed to less than 
 one thousand ; but it was necessary to meet and arrest 
 them, or die. 
 
 1^0 other course was left. Beauregard must have 
 time to concentrate his forces near Stonebrido^e ; a 
 new line of battle must be formed; time must be 
 purchased with blood. The little force of Southern- 
 ers went forward to the struggle as the three hundred 
 of Leonidas took post between the walls of Thermo- 
 pylae. 
 
 The war was fruitful in heroic deeds but it offers no 
 braver spectacle than this. Hope must have veiled 
 her face for that handful — the grave yawned before 
 them. There was no possibility of victoiy for them. 
 How could that atom arrest for a single instant the 
 mighty machine rolling on to crush it ? 
 
 A commander of weak nerves mio^ht have asked 
 himself that question. It never occured to Evans. 
 He placed his six-pounders on the hill in his rear ; 
 drew up his men ; and received with the obstinacy of 
 a bull dog the furious assault of the enemy. 
 
 It was the Second Ehode Island Infantry, supported 
 by six thirteen-poimd rifles, which led the charge ; and 
 
 
24 MJJiASSAS, 
 
 opposed to them were the men of the Fourth Alabama. 
 The lines delivered their volleys almost breast to 
 breast, and in an instant the field was one great cloud 
 of smoke, from which rose cheers, yells, groans, 
 mingled with thunder. 
 
 From that moment the conflict became one of 
 enormous bitterness, and the Federal forces fought 
 with a gallantry which achieved the best results. 
 Evans fought like a tiger, but his thin line was almost 
 annihilated by the concentrated fire of the Federal 
 musketry and cannon. AVheat fell, and was borne 
 from the field ; all around Evans, raging like a wild 
 boar, his men were falling. Step by step, he was 
 forced back, torn and bleeding. 
 
 Still the thought of retreat did not occur to him. 
 It was necessary to fight until reinforcements came, 
 holding that precious ground. If he could not hold 
 it, then it was necessary to die. Blood was dear, but 
 time was beyond all estimate. 
 
 Soon the moment came, however, when all was 
 plainly over — when a handful of Southerners only re- 
 mained and the conflict was no longer possible. The 
 enemy pressed on with cheers. Evans was forced back, 
 fighting desperately at every step — when all at once 
 the expected reinforcements came. Descending rap- 
 idly from the Henry House hill in his rear were 
 Been the four thousand men of Bee and Bartow — and 
 reaching]: the field, General Bee took command : 
 formed line of battle, and threw himself like an 
 athlete accainst the v-ictorious enemv. The conflict 
 which followed was a war of giants. Bee had under 
 him, besides Evans' remnant, four regiments and four 
 
maj:^assas. 25 
 
 guns — to this the enemy opposed eight brigades and 
 their great force of cavahy and artillery. But now 
 more than ever it ^^as necessary to hold that ground, 
 for Beauregard was moving, and Bee was the one of 
 ten thousand for the work before him. 
 
 From the moment of his arrival the thunders of 
 battle redoubled. It was a trained and full-armed 
 gladiator, however small of stature, which threw him- 
 self against the Federal Goliah ; and the conflict was 
 of great ferocity. 
 
 " I salute the Eighth Georgia wdth my hat off," said 
 Beauregard, afterwards, as the bleeding survivors 
 passed him. " History shall never forget you ! " 
 
 But with Bee, as with Evans, the moment of fate 
 was to come. The force before him was too pon- 
 derous. 'No blows against it told. The hammer was 
 shattered by the an^dl. 
 
 By main force of merciless fusilades, and storms of 
 shell and canister, the Southern lines were, man by 
 man, swept to perdition. The ground was drenched 
 in blood ; the air Avas a sulphur-cloud ; the thin line 
 staggered to and fro, having bid farewell to hope. 
 Then an incident as ludicrous as tragic came to fin- 
 ish all. From Red House ford the brigades of Sher- 
 man were seen pressing forward to envelope the 
 right flank of the main band of Southerners. It was 
 a giant closing his huge hand upon a fly — a sledge- 
 hammer raised to crush an insect. In thirty minutes 
 Bee saw that his brigade would be annihilated : and 
 with bitterness of heart he gave the order to retire 
 toward the liigh ground in his rear. 
 
 At the word, the gray line fell back, fighting still, but 
 3 
 
26 MAJN'ASSAS. 
 
 m disorder, and with little spirit. The men were brave 
 
 — never were soldiers braver than those Georgians, 
 Alabamians and Mississippians — bnt hope had de- 
 serted them ; and only the trained troops of many 
 battles fight when every chance of victory has dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 Bee saw with unntterable anguish that the retreat 
 was every instant threatening to become a panic- 
 stricken flight. Bnt he conld not check it. In vain 
 did he ride, sword in hand, through the fire which 
 swept his lines, beseeching the men to fall back in good 
 order, and not fly. His voice was nnlieard, or his 
 orders unheeded. The merciless volleys fi*om the 
 Federal infantry tore all to pieces ; the hurricane of 
 canister swept, as with the besom of destruction, the 
 whole field over which the men were scattering:, mere 
 fuo^itives. 
 
 It was at this instant — when Bee was mastered by 
 a sort of fnry of despair, and his men in hopeless rout 
 
 — that the glitter of bayonets was seen beyond the 
 Henry House hill. Plunging the spurs into his horse, 
 Bee went to meet them, and fonnd himself face to 
 face with a soldier in an old gray coat, riding a bay 
 liorse. A yellow cadet cap drooped above the fore- 
 head of this personage. Under its rim a pair of dark 
 eyes glittered. 
 
 Bee, covered with dust and sweat, his horse foaming, 
 his dra-wn sword in his hand, stopped suddenly in front 
 of the silent man. 
 
 " General, they are beating us back ! " he groaned. 
 
 And he pointed Avith his sword to the blue masses 
 
MAJSfASSAS. 27 
 
 wliicli were pressing his disordered troops, -svith that 
 contimions and mortal fire. 
 
 Jackson looked in tlie direction indicated. Not a 
 feature moved. Then his eye flashed ; a slight color 
 came to his cheek, and he said, in his calm, brief 
 voice : 
 
 " Sir, we will give them the bayonet." 
 
 There are words which, however quietly nttered, 
 ring in the ears of men like. the blast of a bugle. 
 These of Jackson rang thns in the ears of Bee. With- 
 out reply he wheeled his horse, went back at a gallop 
 to his broken lines, and pointing with his sword to 
 Jackson, shouted: 
 
 " Look ! there is Jackson standing like a stone wall ! 
 Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer ! " 
 
 His men thrilled at these noble words, vibrating in 
 the air above them like the sound of a clarion ; shouts 
 answered them ; the lines were partially restored ; and 
 once more holding in his strong, brave grasp, that bat- 
 tered and splintered, but sharp and tempered weapon, 
 his brigade, Bee took position on the right of Jackson, 
 halting and facing the great masses pressing on to 
 crush him. 
 
 Then was witnessed a spectacle which made the pulses 
 throb. It was that presented by the six hundred men 
 of Hampton, meeting front to front, on the Warren- 
 ton road, the whole division of Keyes, and driving it 
 back. The stubborn blood of a race of thorough-breds 
 fought that day in the veins of Wade Hampton, as it 
 fought thereafter upon many memorable fields. 
 
 There are men whose characters, like their faces, 
 
28 MAJ^ASSAS. 
 
 " dare 3-011 to forget." Siicli a man was Hampton, nor 
 will the Soutli forsret liim. 
 
 But the moment came for him, as it had come for 
 Evans ; as it had come for Bee. Flanked on the left, 
 his line swept by a furious fire of artillery posted near 
 the Old Stone House, Hampton was compelled to fall 
 back in order to escape annihilation ; he did so ; took 
 position on the right, like Bee — then Jackson, with 
 his two thousand six. hundred and eleven muskets, 
 moved foi-ward, slow, unshaken, silent as some ap- 
 proaching fate. 
 
 In twentv minutes he had formed line of battle un- 
 der the eastern ci'est of the Hem*v House hill. In 
 front of his men, lying down to escape the stomi 
 sweeping over them, the figure of the Virginian was 
 seen riding to and fro, his lips repeating calmly, 
 " Steady, boys ! steady, all's well ! " In front of his 
 line two guns, which he had just posted there, were 
 steadily firino'. 
 
 That moment was the turning point of the battle of 
 Manassas. Had the enemy advanced, they would have 
 swept the hill, and snatched victory ; for nearly thirty 
 thousand infantry, and about thirty pieces of artillery, 
 besides a regiment of cavalry, were there, right in front 
 of less than five thousand Southerners. 
 
 Thev did not attack in force for more than an hour. 
 Then the Southern lines were ready. 
 
 Johnston and Beauregard — the latter directing oper- 
 ations under the former, his superior — had determined 
 to fio^ht the decisive battle here. 'Whv ? From one of 
 those fatalities which prove to men what puppets in 
 the hands of Providence they are. 
 
The officer sent to order the right and centre to move 
 npon the enemy's rear at Centreville, had failed to de- 
 liver the order, or had delivered it too late. The riirht, 
 under Ewell, moved ; the centre, nnder Bonham, re- 
 mained in the trenches. Thus the golden moment 
 passed — the hand npon the dial of destiny points to 
 "too late." Johnston and Beauregard went on their 
 foamino; horses in the direction of Stonebrid£:e. 
 
 There the opposing lines were about to grapple in a 
 mortal struggle. The fate of a continent seemed about 
 to be decided upon the slope of the Henry House hill, 
 amid those clumps of pines and green cornfields above 
 which hovered the lurid cloud of battle. Thunder, 
 lightning, and tempest, seemed to have reached their 
 utmost fury there.. In the midst of smoke, dust, and 
 uproar — the diabolical bass of artillery, and the crash- 
 ing treble of muskelTy — the blue and gray lines were 
 about to rush together 'like two wild animals drunk 
 with blood, and bent on tearing each other to peices. 
 
 Johnston was and is, and ever will be, a brave soldier 
 — a fighter, no less than a general. He seized the 
 colours of the Fourth Alabama, shouted to the men to 
 follow him, and plunged with that deadly burden into 
 the gulf of battle. The men followed him T\dth wild 
 cheers, and the Alabamians were good, from that in- 
 stant, for a conflict as desperate as the first. 
 
 Beauregard was galloping up and down the lines, 
 with his drawn sword in his hand. In his black eyes 
 burned the hard-fighting Creole blood; his sallow 
 cheeks were fiushed — at that moment, as he darted to 
 and fro, calling on the troops to die in defence of their 
 3* 
 
30 3fANASSAS. 
 
 homes and altars, it was one of the great Marshals of 
 the Empire rallying the Old Guard of ]^^apoleon. 
 
 In thirty minutes the broken and disheartened lines 
 of Bee and Evans were as th-m as a rock again. Hamp- 
 ton was by them, cool and composed as ever ; on the 
 left were some companies which had hastened from 
 l^elow — and in the centre was Jackson, a stone wall 
 backed by a steel hedge of bayonets. 
 
 Hitherto, the writer of this page has stated facts, in 
 regard to which there is no controversy. They are not 
 only history, but accepted history. What followed the 
 arrival of Johnston and Beauregard is reported di- 
 versely. The latter officer reports that Jackson charged 
 twice, beinof driven in the first charo^e, from the hill. 
 Johnston, Hampton, Pendleton, and Jackson himself, 
 state that he charged but once, and was never driven 
 fi'om the hill. We follow Johnston, Hampton, Pendle- 
 ton, and Jackson. 
 
 This latter won on this occasion his soubriquet of 
 " Stonewall " — he also won the enthusiastic admiration 
 of his men. Wounded in the hand, he wrapped it in a 
 handkerchief, and forgot it. Surrounded by hurry and 
 excitement, he remained as cool as ice. 
 
 " General ! " exclaimed an officer, " I think the day 
 is going against us ! " 
 
 Jackson looked sidewise at the speaker. Then, in 
 his curt voice, he replied : 
 
 "H you think so, sir, you had better say nothing 
 about it." 
 
 Riding slowly up and down, he waited — uncon- 
 scious wholly, it seemed, of the terrible fire amid 
 which he moved. He had ordered his four regiments 
 
MAJ^ASSAS. 31 
 
 to remain lying do^vn, in line of battle, behind the 
 guns, until the enemy amved within about seventy- 
 five yards of them, when they were to rise, and 
 " charge with the bayonet." 
 
 Soon the moment came. The Federal forces had 
 swept on, gained the plateau of the Hem-y House, and 
 now their rear was seen to close up ; their masses 
 were rapidly formed for the charge. The great 
 swarm seemed to concentrate ; the blue lines pre- 
 sented a front, broad, deep, and terrible, with its brist- 
 ling bayonets ; then, all at once, with redoubled thun- 
 ders of musketry and cannon, they were hurled against 
 the thin Confederate front. 
 
 The assault was met with the bayonet. Rising sud- 
 denly from the pines, the Yirginians, under Jackson, 
 fired a volley, and rushed up the slope. With shouts, 
 cheers, mad yells, the blue and gray lines clashed, 
 fighting desperately for the possession of the plateau. 
 
 In ten minutes the Southerners had swept the Fed- 
 eral forces back, and gained it. Then the question 
 was — could they hold it ? — and one of the bloodiest 
 conflicts, of a war as bloody as any in histoiy, took 
 place on the slope of that hill. 
 
 Jackson did not flinch. It was a veritable stone 
 wall which he presented to his foes, but a wall that 
 still advanced, step by step, as inexorable as destiny. 
 
 On his right and left some of the bravest gentlemen 
 of the South were fl^^ihtinof fallins^, and dvino;. One 
 — a boy, and a private — exclaimed, as they carried 
 him expiring fi'om the field : 
 
 " They've done for me now, but my father's there 
 
32 MAJ^ASSAS. 
 
 yet ! — our army's there yet ! — and liberty's there 
 yet ! " 
 
 Hampton, charging with Ins legion, near the Henry 
 House, was shot, and fell. 
 
 Bee fell, struck down at the head of his troops, 
 grasping the sword which South Carolina had pre- 
 sented to him. 
 
 Bartow, who had said, "I shall go into that fight 
 with a determination never to leave the field alive, but 
 in victory," was shot through the heart while leading 
 the Seventh Georgia, and died exclaiming: 
 
 " They've killed me, but never give up the field ! " 
 
 But, in spite of the fall of their leaders, the troops 
 pressed on. Jackson had rooted himself fii-mly in the 
 soil of the plateau, and now, as the right and left 
 vdngs closed up, and preserved his flanks fi'om dan- 
 ger, he made his great advance. In the midst of the 
 hurricane, which had now reached its wildest inten- 
 sity, he dressed his line, placed himself in front, and 
 fell, like a thunderbolt, upon the Federal centre. 
 
 An instant decided all. The centre was pierced ; 
 the two wings of the United States army separated; 
 and as Jackson's brigade, supported, shoulder to shoul- 
 der, by the South Carolinians of Hampton, the Xorth 
 Carolinians of Fisher, the Georgians, Alabamians, 
 Mississippi ans, and other troops, rolled foward, like a 
 wave of iron, and pressed the Federal right, centre, 
 and left, tlie troops of General McDowell were thrown 
 into disorder ; then they gave way ; then they broke ; 
 then were seen flying, with the shouting 'Confederates 
 pursuing them. 
 
 The Federal commander formed a new line of bat- 
 
MAJ:^ASSA8. 33 
 
 tie, in the shape of a crescent, extending along the 
 ridge in rear of the Old Stone House; but his men 
 had lost heart. 
 
 Just as another advance had begun the brave Gen. 
 Kirby Smith arrived with seventeen hundred fresh 
 troops — these were thrown into action — fell on the 
 enemy's right — and the long, hard conflict soon termi- 
 nated. 
 
 The Federal army, which had advanced that morn- 
 ing in all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of glori- 
 ous war, was no longer anything but a mass of fugi- 
 tives; and, sitting his horse upon the battle-field. 
 General Stonewall Jackson said: 
 
 " Give me ten thousand men, and I will be in Wash- 
 ington to-night ! " 
 
 Such was Manassas — the first great fight of the 
 civil war. I have endeavored to describe the struggle 
 with the fairness of truth itself, not with rancour or 
 bitterness. Alas ! grief supplants hatred when I think 
 of that battle ; for the night of the action fell dark as 
 a funeral pall upon the corpses of more than one 
 friend whom I dearly loved, and still mourn. 
 
 I have described the battle- I would not like to 
 undertake a description of the retreat — of that tragic 
 spectacle of human beings mastered by a frightful 
 panic — of masses torn by shot and bm'sting shell — of 
 men rolling, crushed beneath the wheels of their own 
 artillery — of others throwing away guns, knapsacks, 
 oilcloths, swords, hats, coats, every object which was 
 calculated to impede their flight to the sheltering ram- 
 parts of Washington. 
 
34 MANASSAS. 
 
 Let otliei*s elaborate that sombre and terrible pic- 
 tui'e ; the present writer declines the lugubrious task. 
 
 It is enough to say here that, on the evening of the 
 21st of July, 1861, the "Grand Army" of the United 
 States was in hopeless rout. Its pride was all broken ; 
 its jlowers had disappeared before the sythe of death ; 
 it was as the unripe fruit which fades before the sum- 
 mer. 
 
 We shall meet hereafter with battles as desperate, 
 •and more bloody, but with none which possess the 
 dramatic interest of this one. 
 
 It was the death-wrestle of two great races, and one 
 fell, it seemed, never to rise again. But that hope 
 was vain. The fallen grew stronger — the conquerer 
 weaker. 
 
 At Gettysburg, in July, 1863, the mighty gladiators 
 seemed of nearly equal strength. 
 
 At Petersburg, in the spring of 1865, the world saw 
 that the victor at Manassas, Fredericksburg, Cold Har- 
 bor, Chancellorsville, was tottering, feeble, faint. ^ 
 
 It was not until the 9th of April, at Appomattox 
 Court House, that the explanation of this phenomenon 
 was given. 
 
 The Southern army was not conquered; it was 
 starving to death. 
 
11. 
 
 POET REPIIBLIC. 
 
 Theee was in Virginia in 1862 an old officer of the 
 French army who had followed N"apoleon throngh- 
 out his greatest campaigns, and was a very enthu- 
 siastic admirer of the Emperor. When the intelli- 
 gence of Jackson's victory at Port Eepublic came, 
 Col. exclaimed : 
 
 "He is the greatest of all soldiers! There never 
 was a greater campaign than the campaign of the 
 Yalley. I will not say that Jackson imitated I^apoleon, 
 but, if he had lived before the Emperor, I would 
 say that ]N"apoleon imitated Jacksonl'"^ 
 
 The object of this paper is to d&,cribe the action, 
 the intelligence of which aroused tlie military enthu- 
 siasm of the old French officer. 
 
 To perform this task conscientiously and accu- 
 rately, it is necessary to begin at the beginning. The 
 marches of Jackson were even more remarkable 
 than his battles — the huge strides of the Colossus 
 more interesting even than the blows which he dealt. 
 He aimed to conquer an enemy rather by sweat than 
 blood — and Port Republic was only the last scene of 
 the last act in a drama which was fi'om the first scene 
 movement, movement, movement ! 
 
 (35) 
 
36 PORT REPUBLIC. 
 
 In March of this year, 1862, Jackson was at Winches- 
 ter with four thousand men, with orders to liold the 
 Yallev. 
 
 One morning the enemy advanced upon him with 
 about forty thousand men — that is, ten to one; and, 
 when his fi-iends said, sadly, '' Good-bye, General," 
 he did not take the hands held out, and replied : 
 
 " No ! I will never leave Winchester without a hght 
 — never ! never ! " 
 
 Four hours afterwards he was retreatinor, but onlv in 
 obedience to a peremptory order from Hichmond. 
 
 " Is everything removed. Major ? " he said to his 
 chief quartermastor. 
 
 " Nearly everything. General." 
 
 " Take yoiu* time. Major ; I am in no hurrry to leave 
 Winchester." 
 
 Retreating slowly up the Yalley, he had reached 
 Mount Jackson, when Ashby sent him word that the 
 enemy were moving their forces from Winchester 
 toward Fredi'icksburg to reinforce McClellan on the 
 Chickahominy. xvt the intelligence Jackson put his 
 column in motion, and hastened ^vith his " foot caval- 
 ry" toward the Potomac. Fifty miles were passed 
 over with the speed of horse. The enemy, eleven 
 thousand in number, were found at Kerusto\vn ; and, 
 althoucch the three thousand men of Jackson were so 
 much exhausted that they staggered when their feet 
 were placed upon the rolling stones of the turnpike, 
 their commander gave the order to attack. 
 
 The battle of Kernstown followed — the struggle of 
 two thousand seven hundred and fortv-two men to 
 drive about eight thousand from the field. That fight 
 
PORT REPUBLIC. 37 
 
 was one of the hardest of the war. Jackson said that 
 the fii-ing was more rapid and continuous than durino- 
 any portion of the battle of Manassas. 
 
 The action commenced at fonr o'clock on a bleak 
 March evening, with the wind sobbing over the great 
 fields of broom-straw, soon to be dabbled in blood. 
 Until nightfall it raged with enormous bitterness. 
 Time after time the Federal flag went down, and a 
 Northern officer afterwards declared that the obstinate 
 stand made by a single Federal regiment " alone saved 
 them." 
 
 But at dark Jackson was beaten. The enemy were 
 enveloping both his flanks, and driving his centre. 
 Ashby at that moment sent him word that if he could 
 only hold his ground ten minutes longer, the Federal 
 forces would retire. "I know this to be so," said 
 Ashby ; he had captured, it is said, a courier of Gen. 
 Shields', bearing the order. But it was too late The 
 battle was lost. Jackson's men were retreatino- — sul- 
 lenly, doggedly, "without panic," as even the Federal 
 commander said in his report — but they were retreat- 
 
 ing. 
 
 Having moved back three or four miles, Jackson lay 
 down in a fence corner, slept for an hour or more, and 
 at daylight commenced his retreat — impursued, almost. 
 The enemy followed him no further than Strasburg, 
 from vrhich point they fell back to Winchester, barri- 
 cading the road in their rear. 
 
 About the middle of April Jackson was in camp, 
 
 near Mount Jackson, when he received intellio-ence 
 
 that the enemy were advancing, in heavy force. Soon 
 
 their advance guard struck his front, under Ashby. 
 4 
 
38 PORT REPUBLIC. 
 
 The Confederate commander was too weak to fi2:lit the 
 heavy force under Banks, and slowly moved across the 
 Shenandoah toward Swift Run Gap, through which 
 ran the road to Richmond. Ashby had remained be- 
 hind, and it was in endeavoring to destroy the bridge 
 over the Shenandoah on this occasion, that his his- 
 toric white horse received the historic death-wound. 
 
 Meanwhile, Jackson had reached his fastness in the 
 Blue Bidge, and it was evident that he had not the 
 least intention of retreating further. Like the Scottish 
 chieftain, his back was against the rock^ and he did not 
 mean to fly. 
 
 Gen. Banks advanced no further than Han-ison- 
 burg. From that place he sent, on the 24t]i of April, 
 a dispatch to "Washington, announcing that " the rebel 
 Jackson" had abandoned the Yallev, and was then in 
 full retreat upon Eichmond. 
 
 The commentary upon this statement was amusing. 
 Jackson moved rapidly to Staunton, advanced thence 
 to the western mountains, struck and defeated Milroy, 
 who was coming to join Banks, drove him from 
 McDowell to Franklin, and then, ha^dng drawn up his 
 army, and returned thanks to God for the victory, 
 while the enemy were still filing, returned by rapid 
 marches to the Valley. Gen. Banks had fallen back to 
 Strasburg, where he was fortifsdng. Such had been 
 the result of Jackson's "retreat upon Richmond." 
 
 E'o time was lost by the Yirginian. He summoned 
 Ewell to meet him at Kewmarket; from that point 
 crossed the Shenandoah and the Massinutton, advanced 
 down the Luray Valley, and, before the enemy were 
 aware of his presence, made a furious assault upon 
 
FOBT REPUBLIC. 39 
 
 their outpost, at Front Royal — that is to say, precisely 
 on the flank of General Banks at Strasburo-. 
 
 The Federal force at Front Eoyal disappeared, as 
 though swept away by the wind, and Jackson pushed 
 on rapidly to strike the Yalley turnpike, between 
 Strasburg and Winchester, full in the enemy's rear. 
 He struck their column mo^-ing back in haste upon 
 Winchester. At the sudden thunder of his artillery, 
 the long columns of cavalry broke and vanished like 
 phantoms in the woods ; the trains and artillery ran off 
 at a gallop, and the tail of the long snake, cut off fi^om 
 the rest, retreated rapidly upon Strasburg, whence it 
 escaped to the mountains. 
 
 Jackson now hastened on, without pausing for a 
 moment, toward Winchester. Moving steadily all 
 night, and driving before him every Federal force 
 which barred the way, he came within sight of Win- 
 chester at dawn, and, an horn- afterwards, made a reso- 
 lute attack. General Banks had assembled all his 
 available forces there, and occupied the high hill to the 
 west of the town ; but Jackson knew that no real resist- 
 ance would await him from troops thus demoralized. 
 He formed his line of battle, sent word to Ewell, on 
 the Front Eoyal road, to close in, and the two columns 
 rushed, right and left, upon the town, meeting, and 
 driving everything before them. 
 
 The blue lines were utterly broken, in full retreat, 
 and were hastening out at the northern end of the 
 town while Jackson's men were entering the southern 
 suburbs. 
 
 The scene which followed will long be remembered 
 by those who witnessed it. Men, women, and children 
 
40 POBT REPUBLIC. 
 
 flocked into the streets, shouting, langhing, and wa\'ing 
 their handkerchiefs ; and such was the enthusiasm of 
 the yonng girls to welcome their gray defenders, that 
 men had to be sent forward to motion them out of the 
 way, in order that the platoons might deliver their fire. 
 
 " Thank God, we are fi'ee ! Thank God, we are free 
 once more ! " resounded upon every side, and Jackson 
 exhibited an emotion which he had never been known 
 to display before. He caught his cap from his head, 
 waved it in the air, and he, the sedate, serious Stone- 
 wall Jackson — cheered ! But the ovation did not 
 divert him from his work. He rode on rapidly through 
 the town, and followed so closely, ahead of his own 
 column, the footsteps of the enemy, that a staff ofiicer 
 said: 
 
 "Don't you think you are exposing yourself to dan- 
 ger. General ? " 
 
 To this caution he paid not the least attention. His 
 bi'ief reply was : 
 
 " Tell the troops to press right on to the Potomac ! " 
 
 But the infantry was broken down, and the cavalry 
 was not in place. This fact alone saved the Federal 
 forces from capture. They reached Martinsbm-g, rap- 
 idly passed the Potomac, and General Banks said, in 
 his report of these events, " It is seldom that a river 
 crossing of such magnitude is achieved with greater 
 success, and there were never more grateful hearts, in 
 the same number of men, than when, at mid-day on the 
 26th, we stood on the oj^posite shore." 
 
 At Winchester, Jackson captured great quantities of 
 stores ; but the work was not done, and the time for 
 rest was still far distant. The enemy retained possess- 
 
PORT REPUBLIC. 41 
 
 ion of Harper's Ferr}^, and toward that point the old 
 Stonewall Brigade, nnder that brave spirit, Winder, 
 was promptly sent. 
 
 Winder advanced to Charlestown, and, at the first 
 roar of his guns, the enemy there retreated, pursued by 
 the Southerners to Halltown. Jackson arrived on the 
 following morning with his main body, advanced 
 straight upon Harper's Ferry, and was about to attack, 
 when intelligence reached him which communicated a 
 very unexpected and most disagreeable aspect to affairs. 
 
 A few words will explain. The advance of the for- 
 midable athlete toward the Potomac liad excited the 
 utmost consternation in Washino-ton. The darino^ of 
 the man was so well known that the Federal authori- 
 ties, trembled for the fate of their capital. The wildest 
 rumors were everywhere prevalent. "Where is Jack- 
 son?" "Has he taken Washington?" These and a 
 hundred similar questions were asked; at least, the 
 northern joui-nals said so. The government certainly 
 shared this anxiety. President Lincoln had already 
 writeen a hurried dispatch to General McDowell, at 
 Fredericksburg, in which he said: "You are in- 
 structed, laying aside for the present the movement on 
 Pichmond, to put twenty thousand men in motion at 
 once for the Shenandoah, to capture the forces of Jack- 
 son and Ewell." The Federal Secretary of War now 
 telegraphed to the Governor of Massachusetts : "' Send 
 all the troops forward that you can, immediately. 
 Banks completely routed. Intelligence from various 
 quarters leaves no doubt that the enemy in great force 
 are advancing on Washington. Ton will please organ- 
 ize and forward immediately all the volunteer and 
 4* 
 
42 • J>OBT MEPUBLIC. 
 
 militia force in your State." Similar dispatches are 
 said to have been sent to the other States — ex uno 
 disce omnes. 
 
 The "great force" at Jackson's command was at 
 this time about fifteen thousand men. This he stated 
 to Col. Boteler of his staff. 
 
 "What will you do if the enemy cut you off. Gen- 
 eral ? " asked the Colonel. 
 
 "I will fall back upon Maryland for reinforce- 
 ments," was the cool response. 
 
 Credo quia cibsurdum est. Jackson believed in many 
 things which other Generals thought absurd until he 
 accomplished them. 
 
 The intelligence which came to Jackson, now at 
 Harper's Ferry, was enough to try his nerves. The 
 heavy column sent up by General McDowell from 
 Fredericksburg was at Front Royal, and had captured 
 the Confederate force there. The advance was hasten- 
 ing toward Strasburg ; and, as if this were not enough. 
 Gen. Fremont, with an army estimated at twenty thou- 
 sand men, was hurrying to the same point, Strasburg, 
 from the West — had reached the town of Wardens- 
 ville across the mountain. 
 
 Thus a force of about forty thousand or fifty thou- 
 sand men was closing in rapidly upon Jackson's rear 
 at Strasburg. If the columns under Shields and 
 Fremont made a junction there before his arrival — 
 " good-night to Marmion ! " Fifteen thousand resolute 
 men could accomplish much, but they could scarcely 
 cut their way through fifty thousand. The great point, 
 therefore, was to reach the village of Strasburg before 
 the enemy. Then the little army would be safe. 
 
PORT REPUBLIC. 43 
 
 Jackson began to move withont delay. 
 
 " I "svill return again shortly, and as certainly as 
 now," he said, in his brief, calm voice, to the women 
 and children of Winchester, when he left them. Then 
 he rode on, and rejoined his column. The captured 
 stores, and the prisoners, some three thousand in num- 
 ber, were rapidly sent forward ; the army followed ; 
 it was a race between the Confederate commander 
 and his adversaries which would arrive first. The 
 stake was not an unimportant one — it was nothing 
 less than Jackson's army. 
 
 Hastening forward, Jackson reached Strasburg just 
 as Fremont's advance force came in sight ; the column 
 under Shields was yet some miles distant. Unfortu- 
 nately, the old Stonewall Brigade had been left behind 
 at Harper's Ferry ; until it arrived, no one who knew 
 the character of Jackson for a moment believed that 
 he would continue his march. 
 
 He halted, and waited. Fremont pressed on, intent 
 upon his prey ; soon his advance force was in sight of 
 Strasburg, and came on rapidly in line of battle. 
 
 " Ewell, attack ! " was Jackson's order, as at the 
 second Manassass his brief words were, "Ewell, ad- 
 vance ! " 
 
 Ewell attacked, as that hardy soldier always did, 
 with vigor. The head of Fremont's column was driven 
 back upon the main body. Ewell pressed forward ; the 
 long rattle of his musketry echoed from the mountain 
 side, and that echo reached the ears and stirred the 
 pulses of a little colunm of foot-sore and weary men, 
 who were hastening on to join their commander. 
 
 It was the Stonewall Brigade, now only an hour or 
 
44 PORT REPUBLIC. 
 
 two's march away. At the sound of Ewell's guns tlie 
 worn-out men pressed on more rapid]y. All knew 
 that their fate depended upon the speed of that march. 
 An hour gained meant safety — an hour lost meant 
 capture and destruction. 
 
 At Middletovai, Winder, then commanding the 
 Brigade, saw inotionless on the turnpike the long lines 
 of Ashby's cavalry. That stout cavalier never yet 
 deserted comrade ; at the sight of Winder the brown 
 eyes flashed. 
 
 " I never felt so much relieved in my life ! " ex- 
 claimed Ashby, grasping is friend's hand*, ^* I was 
 certain you would be cut off, and had made up my 
 mind to join you, and advise you to force your way 
 through Ashby's Gap at Gordonsville ! " ^^ 
 
 Ewell was still fighting obstinately when bayonets 
 were seen to glitter in the direction of Winchester ; a 
 red flag flashed in the sunshine ; steadily the weary 
 column came — the old Brigade was safe '' at home"' 
 with its commander. 
 
 As it entered the town, Jackson ordered Ewell to 
 fall back. Then the army moved ; Ashby's cavaliy 
 retired, the last, from Strasburg ; as they disappeared, 
 the enemy rushed in to seize their prey. 
 
 That prey had escaped. The lion was out of the 
 meshes. 
 
 The army moved on steadily, Ashby holding the 
 rear, and drawing blood with his teeth when they 
 pressed him too closely. Thus pushing before it the 
 long train of captured stores, and the blue line of 
 
 * I have tills incident from my friend, Captain McHenry Howard, 
 formerly of Winder's stafE. 
 
PORT REPUBLIC, 45 
 
 prisoners, the column ascended the Valley; !N"ewmar- 
 ket was reached and passed ; the Shenandoah crossed ; 
 Harrisonbnrg attained. If Jackson conld now strike 
 across to Port Repnblic — a little village in the forks 
 of the Shenandoah — he could send off his captures 
 through Brown's Gap to Richmond, place his back 
 against the mountain, and strike a mortal blow either 
 at Fremont in his front, or at Shields, advancing up 
 the Luray Yalley, on his flank. 
 
 AVithout delay, the formidable " game " continued 
 to press forward to the harbor of refuge. 
 
 On the morning of tlie 6th of June, Jackson's 
 column was moving steadily across to Port Pepublic 
 — Fremont pressing closely on the rear, and Shields, 
 as the signal-flags on the mountain announced, hasten- 
 ing up to cut off the army at Brown's Gap. 
 
 Jackson did not hurry. Those who saw him will 
 testify that he never was more calm. 
 
 Ashby brought up the rear, fighting over every foot 
 of the ground, with splendid gallantry. 
 
 On this day he ambushed and captured Col. Percy 
 Wyndham ; three hours afterwards the chevalier, 
 '' without reproach of fear," w^as dead. 
 
 Just at sunset, as the woodlands slept in the dreamy 
 light of one of the most beautiful afternoons of June, 
 he had rushed forward at the head of a small force 
 to assail tlie Pennsylvania " Bucktails," imder Col. 
 Kane ; the ranks had closed in, in a bitter struggle ; 
 Ashby's horse was shot ; he sprung to his feet ; l>ut as 
 he was waving his sword — as " Yirginians, charge!" 
 came from his lips — a bullet pierced his breast. He 
 expired almost immediately, but not before the enemy 
 
46 POET REPUBLIC. 
 
 was driven, — and liis body was brought ont before a 
 cavalryman. 
 
 The brave Col. Kane, who had been captured, was 
 told of it. 
 
 " I am sorry," he said ; " he was a noble fellow ! " 
 
 'It was an enemy who said that ; but Ashby did not 
 need the praise of friend or foe. His brief career was 
 like a dream of chivalry ; but to-day his name and 
 fame are cut upon a tablet warmer and more durable 
 than " monumental alabaster." 
 
 That tablet is the great heart of Virginia. 
 
 From this moment commenced that series of superb 
 manoeuvres, which culminated in the excellently fought 
 battle of Port Republic. 
 
 To understand the " situation," it is absolutely nec- 
 essary to look at the map. Fremont was at Harrison 
 burg ; Shields at Conrad's Store, in the Luray Yalley ; 
 Jackson at Port Pepublic. These three points are 
 nearly the angles of an equilateral triangle, — the sides 
 ten or fifteen miles in length. 
 
 Jackson had twelve thousand men ; Shields about 
 the same ; Fremont about twenty thousand, according 
 to the records captured by Gen. Ewell. It must have 
 been near that. 
 
 If Fremont joined Shields, or Shields joined Fre- 
 mont, a column of about thirty-two thousand troops 
 would thus be opposed to twelve thousand. If he 
 joined him — but that had been provided against. 
 Jackson had destroyed the bridge at Conrad's Store, 
 as he had destroyed that near Xewmarket. Trying a 
 second time to cross. Shields found the swollen cur- 
 rent directly in his path. Xo junction was possible 
 
PORT REPUBLIC. 47 
 
 — Jackson, crouching like a tiger at Port Hepublic, 
 conlcl spring either on Fremont or Shields, according 
 to his fancy. 
 
 It ^vill soon be seen that he intended to crash them 
 before they could amite — to tear to j)ieces Shields, and 
 then attack and destroy Fremont, or be destroyed by 
 him. It might have been thought that the great glad- 
 iator was tired of retreating — that the spirit of "fight" 
 flushed his pulses. Those near him at that moment 
 saw an expression upon his face, which is best described 
 by the. word " dangerous." 
 
 A moment of great personal peril to the commander 
 was to precede the hour of danger for his command. 
 The incident about to be related is curious. 
 
 Jackson's main body reached the Shenandoah, oppo- 
 site Port Pepublic, on the night of June Yth. The 
 General sent some cavalry in the direction of Shields, 
 and then established his head-quarters in the town. 
 
 On the next morning he had just mounted his horse, 
 when the cavalry came back panic-stricken, pursued 
 by Federal horse and artillery, one piece of which gal- 
 loped up, and unlimbered at the bridge. 
 
 Jackson was cut off from his army. That bridge 
 was his only means of return to liis forces, and it was 
 commanded by the muzzle of a piece of artillery, 
 loaded and ready. The General acted with rapidity. 
 Hiding straight toward the gun he called out, 
 
 " Y7ho ordered you to post that gun there ? Bring 
 it here ! " 
 
 Wlio could give such an order but a Federal officer 
 of rank? The gun was quickly limbered up — began 
 
 9 
 
48 PORT REPUBLIC. 
 
 to inoTe to the place directed — and Jackson with his 
 staff spm-red rapidly across the bridge. 
 
 The ruse was discovered too late by the artillery 
 officer — Captain Robinson, of Portsmouth, Ohio. He 
 fired three shots at the fugitives, but they screamed 
 above them. Jackson continued his way, and, passing 
 rapidly through the camps, with his cap in^iis hand, 
 exclaimed : 
 
 "Beat the long roll!" 
 
 It was beaten ; the troops sprung to arms ; Taliaf er- 
 ros' brigade rushed straight to the bridge, and in fif- 
 teen minutes the Federal artillery was captured, their 
 cavalry in full flight. 
 
 The Confederates were still pursuing them, when a^ 
 low. continuous tWmder — sullen and ominous — was 
 heard in the direction of Ilarrisbm-g. Ewell was fight- 
 ing Fremont at Cross Keys. The hardy Virginian, at 
 the head of liis '^xq thousand bavonets, had thrown 
 himself impetuously against the twenty thousand of 
 the enemy, at the spot where the "Xross Keys Tavern" 
 used to stand, about midway between Port Republic 
 and Harrisonburg. 
 
 Cross Keys was one of the " neatest " fights of the 
 war. It may be said of the soldier who commanded 
 the Southerners there, that lie thought that "war 
 meant fight, and that fight meant JdlV^ lie threw for- 
 ward his rio;ht — drove the enemy half a mile — 
 brought up his left — was about to push forward, Avlien, 
 just at nightfall, Jackson sent him an order to with- 
 draw Avith the main body of his command to Port 
 Republic. 
 
 Ewell obeyed, and put his column in motion, leav- 
 
PORT REPUBLIC. 4I> 
 
 ing only a small force to observe the enemy. He ^vas 
 the last to leave the field, and was seen helping the 
 wounded to mount upon horseback. To those too 
 badly hurt to be moved from the ground, he gave 
 money for their necessities out of his own pocket. 
 
 Health to you. General ! wherever you may be. A 
 heart of steel beat in your breast in old days ; but at 
 Cross Keys the groans of the wounded melted it. 
 
 What Jackson intended on this night of June 8th, is 
 known from the memoir of an ofiicer. Col. Patten, 
 left to command the small force in Fremont's front, 
 went at midnight to ascertain Jackson's exact in- 
 structions. 
 
 "Hold your position as well as you can," was his 
 order ; " then fall back when obliged ; take a new posi- 
 tion, and hold it in the same way, and I'll be back to 
 join you in the morning. By the blessing of Provi- 
 dence, I hope to be back by ten o'clock." 
 
 That is to say, before ten o'clock Shields would be 
 crushed, and Jackson designed returning to assail 
 Fremont. 
 
 That enormous ^^dll had detennined upon everj-thing 
 — the mathematical brain had mapped out, in advance, 
 the whole series of mano3mTes. I have said above 
 that at this time Jackson was perfectly calm and com- 
 posed. A singular proof of that statement will now 
 be given, and, perhaps, some readers may find it sup- 
 ports the strange theory, held by not a few of his men, 
 that Jackson was mentally " inspired." '^ 
 
 * This incident is given upon the authority of Captain Howard 
 of Baltimore. It has never before been published, 
 6 
 
50 PORT REPUBLIC. 
 
 At one o'clock in tlie day, durinor tlio fis-Iit at Cross 
 Keys, lie rode up and dismounted from liis horse near 
 the bridge at Port Eepublic, '' unusually absorbed, but 
 perfectly tranquil." 
 
 " Major," he said, turning with the sweet smile of a 
 child to an officer near, " would it not be a glorious 
 thing if God would give us a great victory to-day?" 
 
 Two hours passed slowly ; the cannonade from Cross 
 Keys became, if anything, more violent. The re- 
 mainder of the scene shall be described in the words 
 of the brave officer who furnishes the memoir : 
 
 " Great was my astonishment," says Captain How- 
 ard's MS., " when, after a long silence, the General 
 called abruptly, ' Pendleton ! write a note to General 
 Ewell — say the enemy are defeated at all points, and 
 to press them with cavalry, or, if necessary, with 
 Wheat's battalion and artillerv.' Wliat could have led 
 him to such a conclusion, I was, and still am, utterly 
 unable to imairine, for my knowled^-e was certain that 
 he had received no other dispatches from the field, and 
 in the hearino: of all of us, the noise of cbnffict was at 
 least as loud and as near as ever; besides, Jackson 
 would have been one of the last to draw any inference 
 from the latter sign, for, as he told me once before 
 himself, he was ' deaf in one ear, and could not well 
 distino:uish the direction of sounds.' Captain Pendle- 
 ton, however, without remark, wrote the order, or what- 
 ever it might be termed, to Gen. Ewell, and, as he 
 placed the sheet of paper against my horse's shoulder 
 for a writing desk, I saw that he used almost exactly 
 Jackson's words. With no little expectation, I awaited 
 the result, and, accordingly, in about half an hour, and 
 
PORT REPUBLIC. 61 
 
 near tlie time that the courier must have reached the 
 battle-field, the cannonade began to slacken, and 
 presently arrived a dispatch from Gen. Ewell stating, 
 not, indeed, that the enemy were routed so as to be 
 ]Dursued, but that they were repulsed at all points." 
 
 Observe that Captain Howard states that "Jack- 
 son returned from the direction of Cross Keys about 
 one o'clock, and dismounted from his horse near the 
 bridge." In the second place, " I remained near his 
 side for at least two hours, during which time only 
 couriers came from the battle-field," — and at this 
 time, that is, at three o'clock^ Jackson sent his singular 
 order. 
 
 In Febuary, 1864, the writer of this wrote to Gen. 
 Ewell on the subject of Cross Keys, and received a 
 detailed and interesting memoir of the action. 
 
 "About 11, A. M.," says Gen. Ewell,- "the enemy 
 advanced on my front, driving in the Fifteenth Ala- 
 bama. Their batteries were mostly opposite mine, 
 near the chm'ch, and the artillery engagement began 
 cibout noon. After firing some time, the enemy ad- 
 vanced a brigade against Trimble's position," and 
 Trimble attacked, drove them, advanced, and reached a 
 point " more than a mile " beyond his fii-st position. 
 By the least calculation that firing, which lasted " some 
 time," after noon, and this hard attack, will bring the 
 hour to three. Thus the enemy were really " defeated 
 at all points," as Jackson stated when he sent his 
 curious order. 
 
 " I did not push my success at once, because I had 
 no cavalry," says Ewell in his report. 
 
52 PORT HEPUBLia 
 
 " Press them with cavah-y," said Jackson in his sin- 
 gular dispatch, sent from the bridge at Port PepiTblic. 
 
 Who will undertake to explain this very curious in- 
 cident ? 
 
 The day of Port Pepnblic dawned. It was the 9th 
 of June, 1862. 
 
 Two days before, Gen. McClellen had written to 
 Washington: "I shall be in perfect readiness to 
 move forward and take Pichmond the moment McCall 
 reaches here, and the ground will admit the passage of 
 artillery." 
 
 Jackson was to ^'haye his say " in that. 
 
 At nii2:htf all on the 8th this was the situation of af- 
 fairs. Fremont had l^een repulsed, and was held in 
 check at Cross Keys ; Shields was rapidly adyancing 
 up the Luray Yalley, and had almost come in sight of 
 Port Pepublic ; Jackson had concentrated his main 
 body on the east side of the Shenandoah, and was 
 ready to attack. 
 
 At sunrise he moved forward the Old Stonewall 
 Brigade in front, and soon the dropping fii-e of skir- 
 mishers announced that his advance had struck the 
 enemy. 
 
 It was a " day of days," and no more beautifid spot 
 could have been selected in all that land of lands, Vir- 
 ginia, for a decisive struggle. The sim which rose 
 over Austerlitz was not more brilliant than this one 
 whose rosy beams lit up the fields of golden wheat, 
 the shining river, and the forests, echoing with the 
 songs of bii'ds. Those who died that day were to fix 
 their last looks on a sky of cloudless blue — to fall 
 asleep amid the murmur of limpid waves. 
 
PORT BEPUBLia 63 
 
 Gen. Shields had selected an admirable position 
 for his line. His right rested on the river, bending 
 here in the shape of a crescent ; thence the line e^ 
 tended across a field of wheat to a rising ground at 
 the foot of Cole mountain, a spur of the Blue Eidge ; 
 there his left flank was protected by the accli^dtj, and 
 strengthened by artillery. 
 
 If Jackson attacked the enemy's right flank the 
 river stopped him. If he attacked their left, the steep 
 side of the mountain, crowned mth artillery, met him. 
 If he assailed the centre, to the infantry fire fi^om the 
 fi'ont would be added the terrible enfilade fire of the 
 guns upon the heights. 
 
 Any other general would have paused, reconnoitered 
 and perhaps retired. Jackson advanced and attacked. 
 His plans required an assault, and he assaulted. 
 
 The sun had scarcely risen above the shaggy summit 
 of the Blue Eidge, when the Sic Semper banner of 
 Virginia was seen bending forward, rippling as it 
 moved; the rattle of musketry resounded; cheers 
 echoed from the mountain side; and the Yirginians 
 of the Old Brigade threw themselves upon the foe 
 whom they had so often encountered. 
 
 In thirty minutes they were hurled back, torn, 
 bleeding, and leaving behind them, dead or dying, 
 some of the best men of the 'command. The enemy 
 had met them with veritable feu d'enfer. From the 
 Federal infantry in fi-ont had issued rolling volleys of 
 musketry — this they could stand ; but from the ac- 
 cHvity to the right came a fire of shell, round shot, and 
 canister, so furious that no troops could face it. The 
 field was swept as by the besom of destruction. The 
 
 tut 
 
64: POBT REPUBLIC. 
 
 veterans of the Stonewall Brigade, who had faced nn- 
 moved, the thunders of Manassas, Kernstown, McDow- 
 ell, and "Winchester, recoiled from this terrific fire ; 
 and with the Seventh Louisiana Itegiment, under the 
 daring Harry Hays, fell back in disorder. 
 
 The repulse seemed decisive.- The Federal troops 
 rushed forward with wild cheers, the Star-spangled 
 Banner fluttering in the wind. Winder's guns went 
 off at a gallop to escape the danger to which they were 
 exposed ; and although two Virginia regiments were 
 thrown forward, and fought obstinately, the enemy 
 still advanced. The earth was littered with dead 
 bodies in gray coats. A gun of was overturned, 
 and had to be abandoned. The enemy rushed on, 
 cheerins: and deliverins^ vollevs as thev came. At 
 that moment the battle of Port Hepublic was lost. 
 
 Jackson sat his horse, looking on with that grim 
 flash of the eye, which in him boded no good to his 
 opponents. The stern "fighting jaw" was locked; 
 the cheeks glowed. 
 
 A rapid glance revealed all. It was not the fire of 
 the infantry in front that stopped the troops. They 
 had met that fii-e often, and were more than a match 
 for it. It was the murderous enfilade fire of shell and 
 canister which swept the field from the heights on the 
 right, tearing them to pieces whenever they essayed to 
 advance. In face of that fii'e, the bravest veterans 
 were unwilling to move forward. " Why do so ? " they 
 may have said ; " Jackson is coming ; the day is before 
 us ; he will find some way to stop that fire." 
 
 Such was probably the reasoning of the troops ; at 
 least it was coiTect. A single glance showed Jackson 
 
PORT REPUBLIC. 55 
 
 that tlie key of the position was the hill crowned Vith 
 artillery. As long as these swept the field, he was 
 paralyzed; and every moment counted. Beside the 
 foe in his front, there was another more dangerous — 
 Fremont and his fifteen or twenty thousand men at 
 Cross Keys. In front of Fremont was only a " cor- 
 poral's guard " of infantry ; he heard the thunder of 
 the fight beyond Port Republic ; he knew that Shields 
 was hea^dly engaged with Jackson, — at all risks he 
 would come to his succour. Then once united, the 
 Federal force would number about thirty thousand 
 men, against Jackson's force of ten or twelve thousand. 
 It was easier to charge the artillery, drive the enemy, 
 and gain a victory, when that enemy numbered only 
 tv/elve thousand, than when he numbered thirty thou- 
 sand. 
 
 Is'othing remained but the charge. If those guns 
 continued to pour their fire on the Confederate flank, 
 the battle was lost — retreat through Brown's Gap the 
 only course left. Jackson looked at the artillery vom- 
 itmg shell and canister more fm-iously than before. 
 Gen. Taylor was near him — his brigade had just ar- 
 rived. 
 
 "Can you take that battery. General? It must be 
 taken ! " said Jackson, briefly. 
 
 Taylor's sword flashed from the scabbard, his face 
 glowed. Wheeling his hoi-se, he galloped back, ^dth- 
 out a word, to his men, and, rising in his stirrups, 
 shouted, pointing with his sword to the Federal ar- 
 tillery : . 
 
 " Louisianians ! can you take that battery ? " 
 
 Wild cheers replied, and, reaching at a bound the" 
 
66 PORT REPUBLIC. 
 
 head of his column, Taylor ordered a charge upon the 
 guns. 
 
 They were four Louisiana regiments, one from Vir- 
 ginia, and Wheat's battalion of "Tigers." As they 
 moved, loud cheers from the Federal lines on their left 
 resounded — there the enemy was driving ever}i;hing 
 before him. They pressed on. The ground they moved 
 over was terrible — steep, rugged, tangled, almost im- 
 passable. But this did not stop them. Up the rough 
 ascent, through the undergrowth, scattering, but reform- 
 ing quickly, they continued to advance. 
 
 Soon they reached a wood, beyond which a narrow 
 valley of open ground only, intervened between them 
 and the Federal artillery. From the left rose a roar 
 of triumph more ferocious than the first ; it was the 
 Federal right wing driving Jackson's line before it. 
 
 An echo to that shout comes back fi'om the moun- 
 tain. It is the cheer of the Louisianians as they emerge 
 from cover, sweep down the hill, and, crossing the 
 valley, rush headlong toward the muzzles of the Fed- 
 eral artillery. 
 
 The charge is magnificent. There will be only one 
 more as desperate — that of Pickett's Virginians on the 
 last day of Gettysburg. As they nish up the liill, the 
 Federal batteries direct -upon them their most fatal 
 thundei-s. Shell, round shot, and grape strike them in 
 the face ; the ranks are torn asunder ; and where a line 
 but now advanced, are seen only dead bodies, without 
 legs, without arms, without heads, with breasts torn 
 open, the whole lying still, or weltering in pools of 
 blood. The Louisianians have dashed into the mouths 
 of the cannon; had their bodies torn to pieces; and 
 
PORT REPUBLIC. 67 
 
 are dead or dying. Hays, De Clioiseul, and one hun- 
 dred and fifty-eight out of three hundred and eight 
 men- of the Seventh Louisiana have fallen. The other 
 regiments tell the same story. The command is shat- 
 tered; but enough men are left to mount the slope, 
 seize the guns, and bury their bayonets in the breasts 
 of the cannoneers as they fly. The Federal infantry 
 supports recoil like the artillerists; the cannon are 
 taken ; Taylor holds the crest, every foot of which he 
 has bou2:ht v^ith blood. 
 
 But he is not to retain it. A fresh brigade advances 
 upon his weary handful ; a determined charge is made ; 
 the Louisianians are driven back by weight of numbers, 
 and the enemy recapture the guns. But they have 
 hard metal to deal with. E'o hammer stroke seems to 
 break or even weaken it. The Louisianians again ad- 
 vance before the guns can be turned on them ; make a 
 furious countercharge, and the second time the guns 
 are taken by them. 
 
 Three times the Federal artillery was thus lost and 
 won, in spite of the most desperate fighting. All honor 
 to courage wherever it displays itself, under the blue 
 coat or under the gray ; and the Federal forces fought 
 that day with a gallantry that was superb. They died 
 where they stood, like brave men and true soldiers — 
 an enemy records that, and salutes them. 
 
 Taylor's charge won the day of Port Bepublic. That 
 battle belongs to Louisiana, and she has a right to be 
 proud of it. To meet the hea\'y assault thus directed 
 against his left. Gen. Shields was forced to send thither 
 a large body of fresh troops. These were taken from 
 
58 PORT BEPUBLIC, 
 
 his centre and right — thus Jackson's left and centre 
 were relieved. 
 
 The Federal gnns had swept the field — Taylor had 
 silenced them. The Federal infantry had concentrated 
 in the centre — Taylor drew it off. That was the result 
 of the great charge. 
 
 Jackson saw all at a glance. The moment for the 
 great blow had arrived. The enemy were moving to 
 their left ; that enabled him to move to his right. 
 
 Then the gray masses were seen hastening toward 
 the mountain, as though driven by the vdndi. "Winder's 
 old brigade formed in serried phalanx; his batteries 
 redoubled their thunders. Connor rushed to the relief 
 of Taylor, who, thus reinforced, tm-ned like a tiger 
 upon his foes. From that instant the battle was a wild, 
 furious, insensate grapple. The mountain gorges thun- 
 dered ; the musketry rolled through the woods in one 
 sustained and deafening crash. Under this resolute 
 and unshrinking advance the Federal lines began per- 
 ceptibly to hesitate and waver. 
 
 Hesitation in the decisive hour of battle is destruc- 
 tion. That last charge broke the army of Gen. 
 Shields to pieces. Struck in front by the musket fire, 
 and torn in flank by the artillery, the Federal lines 
 gave way; the Confederates rushed upon them — in 
 ten minutes the battle-field presented the tragic specta- 
 cle of one army flying in disorder before another 
 pressing on with cheers of triumph. 
 
 Fremont had been onlv checked: Shields was 
 routed. His forces were pursued by infantry, artillery, 
 and cavalry, until they disappeared beyond a bend of 
 the river, and Jackson was master of the country. 
 
PORT REPUBLIC. 59 
 
 " I never saw so many dead in such a small space in 
 all my life before," he said, as he rode over the field ; 
 but never was blood shed to more advantao-e. 
 
 It was while Jackson was riding thus slowlj^ across the 
 ground, that a roar came suddenly from the opposite 
 bank of the river. Then shell began to whistle — and 
 these shell burst right in the midst of the ambulances 
 full of wounded, and the parties engaged in burying 
 the Federal as well as Confederate dead. Mr. 
 Cameron, chaplain of the First Marj'land, was read- 
 ing the burial service when a cannon ball tore through 
 the group, and the bearers dropped the dead. Kow, 
 whence came that fire, so opposed, one would say, to the 
 usao-es of war? 
 
 It came from Gen. Fremont. Unable to cross 
 the river, as Jackson had burned the bridge, and 
 forced thus to witness the defeat of his Lieutenant be- 
 fore his very face, he vented his wi'ath upon the victor 
 by that firing. 
 
 That roar was a grim sound, but not so grim as the 
 frown of Jackson. 
 
 " While the forces of ShieldsJ" he wrote afterwards, 
 " were in full retreat, and our troops in pursuit, Fre- 
 mont appeared on the opposite bank of the Shenandoah 
 with his army, and opened his artillery on our ambu- 
 lances and parties engaged in the humane labors of at- 
 tending to our dead and wounded, and the dead and 
 wounded of the enemy T 
 
 Jackson makes no comment ; let us imitate him, or 
 nearly. 
 
 It was natural, perhaps, that Gen. Fremont should 
 fire at gray uniforms; but did he know that those 
 
60 PORT BEPUBLIO. 
 
 gray-clad soldiers were burying his own dead ? Those 
 were Federal dead we were burying, as well as Con- 
 federate ; Federal souls were prayed for as well as 
 others. Ittwas a harsli interruption, that fii-e upon the 
 dead men in blue unifonns, and it was a pity. They 
 were brave — never men fought better. 
 
 A few paragraphs will terminate this sketch of a 
 memorable battle. 
 
 Port Kepublic is a landmark. It sums up one 
 epoch — after it, the war entered upon a new phase — 
 invasion. It may be objected that Cold Harbor ter- 
 minated this first epoch ; but the reply is, that Port 
 Pepublic decided Cold Harbor. From the moment 
 when Jackson crushed the Federal column operating 
 in the Yallev, Gen. Lee could concentrate the en- 
 tire force in Yirginia, in fi'ont of McClellan, and that 
 concentration, as events showed, meant victory. 
 
 Thus Port Eepublic was not only the successful 
 termination of a rapid, shifting, and arduous campaign 
 — it was, besides this, one of those peculiar contests 
 which act upon events around them, as the keystone 
 acts upon the arch. With Jackson beaten here, Eich- 
 mond, humanly speaking, was lost, and with it Yir- 
 ginia. ^Vith Jackson victorious, Richmond and Yir- 
 ginia were saved, for McClellan was repulsed, and the 
 Southern Cross moved northward to invade in turn the 
 territory of the enemy. 
 
 It is seen to have been a hard fight. At Manassas, 
 Cold Harbor, Cedar Run, the second Manassas, Shai-ps- 
 burg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, 
 Spottsylvania, and Petersburg, the Confederate forces 
 
PORT REPUBLIC. 61 
 
 were' more or less outnumbered. At Port Eepublic 
 Jackson fought nearly man to man — and victory was 
 long doubtful. At one time the battle was lost; it 
 was only gained at last by the fire, force, rush, and 
 dogged obstinacy of the elite of the Southern troops 
 resolved to conquer or die. 
 
 "Through God's blessing," Jackson wi-ote in his 
 despatch, " the enemy near Port Eepublic was this day 
 routed, with the loss of six pieces of his artillery." 
 
 That phrase, " through God's blessing," probably in- 
 dicated more in the silent soldier than in others. At 
 the moment when his lines were reelino^, an unseen 
 Hand had seemed to support him, an invisible Power 
 to fight for him. And he had triumphed. 
 
 On the morning of the 10th of June, Jackson was 
 as fi-ee as the wind to move whithersoever he willed. 
 Shields was beaten ; Fremont retreating — the splendid 
 prize of the Yirginia Yalley, for which the opponents 
 had been playing, had fallen to the lot of Jackson. 
 "What would he do with it?" What were his 
 plans ? 
 
 Six days afterwards a cavalier entered the little vil- 
 lage of Mount Crawford, on the valley turnpike, about 
 midnight. In the middle of the street, deserted at 
 that hour by all citizens, a solitary figure on horseback 
 was awaiting the new comer — Col. Munford, com- 
 manding the cavalry. He had received that day a 
 note from Jackson, directing him to "meet him at 
 eleven that night at the head of the street at Mount 
 Crawford, and not to ask for him or anybody." 
 
 Jackson was punctually at the rendezvous, as has 
 6 
 
62 PORT BEPUBLIG. 
 
 been, seen y Col. Mnnford amved, and tliey now con- 
 vei*5ed for some time in low tones. When they parted, 
 the Colonel had received his instructions, and returned 
 to Harrisonburg. 
 
 Let us follow the Colonel. At his head-quarters 
 were a number of Federal surgeons, with ambulances, 
 come to carry off Fremont's wounded. To their re- 
 quest Colonel Munford replied that he must fii*st send 
 to Jackson for instructions, and a messenger was sent 
 at once. He speedily returned, and in the hearing of 
 the Federal surgeons, through a wooden partition, 
 reported : 
 
 " Gen. Jackson told me to tell you, Colonel, that 
 the wounded Yankees are not to be taken away, and 
 the sm'geons are to be sent back with the message that 
 he can take care of their wounded men in his hospitals. 
 He is coming right on himself, with heavy reinforce- 
 ments. "^Vliiting's di^ision is up, and Hood's is com- 
 ing. The whole road fi'om here to Staunton is per- 
 fectly lined with troops, and so crowded that I could 
 hardly ride along," 
 
 The Federal surgeons overheard every word of tliis, 
 and when Col. Munford summoned them in and in- 
 formed them simply that Jackson would care for theii* 
 wounded, they said no more. On the same day they 
 returned to Gen. Fremont. On the next, the whole 
 Federal army fell back to Strasburg, and began to en- 
 trench against the anticipated attack. 
 
 Colonel Munford had successfully carried out the 
 order of the solitary horseman at Mount Crawford : 
 " Produce upon the enemy the impression that I am 
 going to advance." 
 
PORT REPUBLIC, 63 
 
 Wliile Fremont was fortifying at Strasburg, Jackson 
 was crossing the Blue Eidge to throw himself against 
 the right wing of Gen. McClellan in the Chicka- 
 hominy. 
 
III. 
 
 SEVEN Pn?ES AND THE SEVEN DATS.' 
 
 On the left bank of the Chickahominy, about two 
 miles from Xew Bridge, stands, in the midst of bleak 
 and melancholy fields, a lofty, nigged, and solitaiy 
 oak, riven by cannon balls. 
 
 At about two o'clock in the morning, between the 
 27th and 28th of June, 1862, two officers — one of 
 them very illustrious, the other very obscure — had 
 wrapped themselves in their blankets, and were falling 
 asleep beneath this tree, when a third personage, 
 entirely unattended, rode up, dismounted, and lying 
 down between the weary men, began to converse. 
 
 " Yesterday was the most terrific fire of musketry I 
 ever heard," he said ; and any one who had listened to 
 the accents of that brief, low, abrupt voice, would have 
 recognized it. The speaker was Stonewall Jackson ; 
 he was addressing General Stuart, and he referred to 
 the bitter, desperate, and bloody conflict of " Cold 
 Harbor." 
 
 A battle which the man of Manassas, Kernstown, 
 and Port Hepublic called " terrific " must be worthy of 
 description. Let us therefore try to paint the grand 
 and absorbing panorama which those summer days of 
 1862 unrolled upon the banks of the Chickahominy. 
 
 (64) 
 
SEVEI^ PmES AND TEE SEVEN DAYS. 65 
 
 "War reached its bloodiest climax there, amid the 
 swampy fields and the tangled underwood — here was 
 struck a blow wliich shook the fabric of the Federal 
 Government. It did not overthrow it ; but it made 
 the huge mass tremble. 
 
 One month before, that is to say, at the close of 
 May, McClellan had ascended the Peninsula ; thrown 
 his left wing across the Chickahominy ; erected ad- 
 mirable works there — and with his army of one 
 himdred and fifty thousand men, had rooted himself 
 within sight of the spires of Richmond. Then com- 
 menced his slow, steady, inexorable advance. Inch by 
 inch, foot by foot, he began to traverse the four or ^yq 
 miles which separated him fi'om the " doomed city." 
 It was a siege commenced at the distance of five miles, 
 as Grant's was afterwards commenced at the distance 
 of twenty — and every day McClellan ascended his 
 tall tree on the bank of the river to reconnoitre through 
 his glasses the roof-tops of the city which he was thus 
 assailing by " regular approaches." 
 
 In the last days of May he was in excellent spirits. 
 His dispatches will show that. His great army was in 
 light marching order ; his left was pushed to a point 
 upon the AYilliamsburgh road, where seven lofty pines 
 gave their name to the locality ; thence he was on the 
 point of springing upon the enemy in his front, when 
 that enemy sprung upon him. 
 
 Johnston, the cool and wary soldier who had foiled 
 his great adversary at Manassas, now took the initiati^'e. 
 
 On the last day of May the Southern lines advanced 
 into the ^^apy thicket at Seven Pines ; a furious 
 assault w^^Bie upon the enemy's left there, and on 
 
 
66 SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DAYS, 
 
 his I'io-lit at Fair Oaks : after one of the most obstinate 
 and sanguinary struggles of the war, the Federal left, 
 nnder General Casey, was swept from the field, shat- 
 tered, parah'zed, and with " no longer any fight " in 
 that wing of the United States Ai-my. The enemy 
 fought gallantly at Seven Pines. Did the "rebels" 
 fight as bravely? Let a member of the Xew York 
 Artillerv, writing: to the Cincinnati Commercial news- 
 paper, give his e^'idence : 
 
 "Our shot tore their ranks wide open," says this 
 wi'iter, " and shattered them asunder in a manner that 
 was frightful to witness ; but they closed up at once, 
 and came on as steadily as English veterans. 'Wlien 
 they got within four hundred yards, we closed our case 
 shot and opened on them with canister; and such de- 
 struction I never elsewhere ^ritnessed. At each dis- 
 charge great gaps were made in their ranks — indeed 
 whole companies went do^vn before that murderous 
 fire — but they closed up with an order and discipline 
 that was awe-inspiring. ... It was awful to see 
 their ranks torn and shattered by every discharge of 
 canister that we poured into their faces, but they closed 
 up and still kept advancing right in face of the fire. 
 At one time, three lines, one behind the other, were 
 steadily advancing, and three of their fiags were 
 brought in range of one of our guns, shotted with can- 
 ister. ' Fire ! ' shouted the gunner, and down T^'ent 
 those three flags, and a gap was opened through three . 
 lines more, as if a thunderbolt had torn through them, 
 and their dead lay in swaths. But they at once closed 
 up, and came steadily on, never haltii^gMtojavering, 
 right through the woods, over the feiD^^Bough the 
 
SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DATS. 67 
 
 field, riglit up to our guns, and sweeping everything 
 before tliem, captured every piece ! " 
 
 If that had been wi'itten bv a Confederate, it mio-ht 
 be doubted bv some readers. But the writer was a 
 soldier of the Federal Army — was there anything to 
 make him say that, but a love of truth? He saw a 
 charge which the Old Guard of ^N^apoleon never sur- 
 passed, and he described what he saw, like a worthy 
 soldier, forgetting under which flag he fought. 
 
 At nightfall on the 31st of May, the Federal left, 
 on the south bank of the Chickahorainy, was driven. 
 It had fallen back fi'om Seven Pines — the Confeder- 
 ates held the works there — a bloody if not decisive 
 blow had been struck at Gen. McClellan's programme. 
 
 But Johnston had been wounded by a fi-agment of 
 shell, and was lying faint and pale in his house upon 
 Church EEill, in Richmond. Who was to succeed him ? 
 
 All eyes turned to a man as yet little known except 
 in military quarters — an officer, first of the engineers, 
 then of the cavalry — Robert E. Lee. He was then in 
 Richmond, rode every day out to the lines ; but had 
 no command. He was now assigned to duty as com- 
 mander of the Confederate forces, in place of Johnston. 
 
 The heavy and firm hand of the great Virginian was 
 soon felt at the helm. The ship which had drifted 
 rudderless for a moment, after the fall of Johnston, 
 was again under command, and bore down upon the 
 enemy's line of battle, as Xelson's flag ship did at Tra- 
 falgar. 
 
 The moment called for action, action, action ! Im- 
 portant events were taking place in every part of the 
 
^S SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DATS 
 
 country, and Jackson was conducting to a triumphant 
 issue tlie great campaign of the Yalley. 
 
 On the day after the battle of Seven Pines, " Old 
 Stonewall," as the country now began to call him,, 
 passed between the converging columns of Fremont 
 and Shields at Strasburg ; struck them with his right 
 hand and his left, and retreated with his prisoners and 
 spoils toward the Upper Yalley, where nine days after- 
 ward he was to fight the battles of Cross Keys and Port 
 Republic, and remain the master of the situation. 
 
 Lee had scarcely taken command when the intelli- 
 gence of the victory at Port Eepublic came to him, 
 borne on the breeze of the mountains. Fremont was 
 paralyzed, which was as good as routed ; Jackson was 
 free to move wherever he was ordered ; now was the 
 time for a great blow at McClellan, and the arm was 
 raised. 
 
 Before it fell, it was necessaiy to discover whether 
 an opening existed in the enemy's coat of mail, through 
 which the point of the weapon could pierce him. On 
 his left, below Seven Pines, to which locality he had 
 again advanced, the armor was perfect. Frowning 
 works behind bristling abattis rose everywhere, and it 
 was determined to assail, if possible, the Federal right 
 beyond^ the Chickahominy. An important point was 
 still, however, to be decided. Had Gen. McClellan 
 fortified his right wing as he had fortified his left? 
 "Was he ready on the north bank as on the south of the 
 stream? To determine this point, Stuart was sent 
 with fifteen hundred horsemen to make a reconnois- 
 sance. 
 
 Stuart — that model cavalier with the keen-edged 
 
SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DATS 69 
 
 sabre, the floating plume, and the soul that never, when 
 the hour was darkest, bated one jot or tittle of the 
 heart of hope — Stuart set out one night about the 
 middle of June, at moonrise, struck for Old Church, 
 beyond the Federal right ; ascertained that they had 
 no defences in that quarter ; drove their cavaliy before 
 him ; made the circuit of McCiellan's army, not intend- 
 ing to surrender, but, if intercepted, to " die game ; " 
 crossed the Chickahominy far below; and made his 
 re-entrance into the Confederate lines just as the Fed- 
 eral forces rushed upon him. 
 
 " He has gone in at the back door," said Col. Eush, 
 of the Federal Lancers, on returning fi-om the pursuit. 
 " I saw his rear-guard as it passed the swamp." 
 
 But the information was the important thing, whether 
 brought in at the back-door or the front. Stuart rode 
 thirty miles to Richmond on the night of his entry into 
 Charles City, below Malvern Hill, and before daylight 
 Gen. Lee and the authorities knew that the Federal 
 right beyond Mechanicsville was undefended. 
 
 From that moment the best plan of" assault was ob- 
 vious. In front at Seven Pines, the enemy were posted 
 behind works, so heavy and complete, that the best 
 troops in the world would have recoiled from them, 
 or dashed themselves to pieces, without hope. On 
 the left were defences almost as strong, and to reach 
 them — even to arrive within rancre of the Ions: rows of 
 cannon — it was necessary first to wade throug-h the 
 frightful ooze of White Oak Swamp. Thus both these 
 approaches, in fi'ont and on the Federal left, were im- 
 practicable. The right remained, and that right was 
 now known to be open, undefended; here was the 
 
70 SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DAYS 
 
 Yeritable hole in the cuirasse through which the Con- 
 federate sword's point could reach the Federal heart. 
 
 The hand to grasp that weapon must be trusty, the 
 eye to direct the blow, clear and sure. The firm and 
 darins: hand of Jackson was best of all suited for the 
 work; and the issue of affaii-s at Port Republic had 
 left him fi'ee as the wind to move wherever he was 
 needed. 
 
 He was beyond the Blue Hidge, but it is certain that 
 in spirit he was on the Chickahominy. He knew what 
 was demanded of him, and as though obeying a voice 
 which called him, hastened, in the language of his men, 
 to "strip for a fight." Then the order came, and at 
 once he began to move. 
 
 The column crossed the Blue Eidge and headed to- 
 ward the lowland. The soldiers had ceased to ask any 
 questions. In a general order, Jackson had forbidden 
 all discussion of his movements; enjoined upon the 
 troops not even to inquire the names of the villages 
 through which they passed, and to reply, "I don't 
 know," to any question. The order was obeyed. See- 
 ing a man climb a fence to pull some cherries : 
 
 " Where are you going ? " asked Jackson. 
 
 " I don't know," was the reply. 
 
 " To what command do you belong ? " 
 
 " I don't know." 
 
 "Well, what State are you from?" 
 
 " I don't know." 
 
 A dry smile flitted across the tanned face under the 
 sun-scorched cadet cap, and the man in the dingy gray 
 uniform rode on. His entire command had become 
 veritable " Know-Kothings." 
 
SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DATS 71 
 
 That result "was more important than it may appear. 
 Tlie great point was that deserters should have little to 
 communicate, even if they laiew where to find the 
 enemy, and that Gen. McClellan should be the greatest 
 Know-I^othing of all. The plan succeeded. In Wash- 
 ington and on the Cliickahominy there vras utter ignor- 
 ance of Jackson's whereabouts. The secret was as 
 closely guarded in the Confederate army. 
 
 On the night of the 26th of June, Gen. Stuart handed 
 to the present writer a dispatch for delivery to a confi- 
 dential emissary before daylight. It was directed 
 simply, "Gen. T. J. Jackson, Somewhere." Ashland, 
 within sixteen miles of Hichmond, was this "Some- 
 where." Jackson had reached that point, and his heavy 
 arm was already raised to strike. Gen. McClellan, 
 meanwhile, was smoking his cigar, and looking at the 
 spire of St. Paul's Church in Eichmond, where he pro- 
 bably expected soon to hear the prayer for the Presi- 
 dent of the United States. 
 
 There were many who would doubtless have been 
 glad to have seen that edifice, and all others in the 
 " doomed city," blown to atoms with gunpowder. This 
 soldier and gentleman had no such desire or intention. 
 At West Point he had learned war, not rapine. 
 
 From this rapid summary of the "situation," the 
 reader will be able to form a just estimate of the rela- 
 tive positions which the two great adversaries, Lee and 
 McClellan, occupied toward each other, on the night 
 of the 26th of June, 1862. 
 
 On both sides of the Chickahominy, the fields of 
 Henrico, Hanover, and Kew Kent, were dark -s^ith the 
 swaiTu of Federal soldiers, in their bright blue uni- 
 
72 SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN BAYS 
 
 forms. The burnished bayonets glittered amid the 
 half -destroyed woods — artillery rumbled across the 
 desolated fields — ever}^ dwelling-house was overrun — 
 the whole face of the earth had become one huge, dirty 
 camp. The very owls and whippoonvills had disap- 
 peared in the tangled depths of the swamp — the ven- 
 omous moccasins of the ooze had been fi-ightened into 
 their holes by the tramp, the roll, and the thunder of 
 moving columns of infantr}', cavalry, and artillery. 
 
 The army numbered one hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand men, one hundred and twelve thousand effective 
 for the field — see the Federal reports — and this great 
 engine. Gen. McClellan was about to hurl against 
 Lee, whose force numbered about sixtv thousand, when 
 "contrabands" hastened in, and announced that he 
 himself was to be attacked ; that the dreaded Stone- 
 wall Jackson was on his flank, ready to assail him. At 
 noon on the 26th of June, he wrote to Washington: 
 
 " I have just heard that our advanced cavalry pick- 
 ets on the left bank of the Chickahominy, are being 
 driven in. It is probably Jackson's advance guard." 
 
 Two hours and a half afterwards he was sure of the 
 fact. 
 
 " Jackson is driving in my pickets, etc., on the other 
 side of the Chickahominy." 
 
 An hour afterwards, A. P. Hill had crossed the 
 stream at Meadow Bridge, nearly north of Richmond ; 
 had hastened forward to Mechanicsville, and then 
 thrown himself like a tiger against the Federal works, 
 which he carried at the point of the bayonet. The 
 bridge being thus uncovered, Longstreet and D. H. 
 Hill crossed — the enemy were again assailed at Bea- 
 
SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DAYS 73 
 
 ver Dam — at dayliglit on tBe morning of the 27tli, 
 Jackson swept around their right, and leading the 
 ground behind them encumbered with burning stores, 
 thej fell back rapidly to the formidable position be- 
 hind Powhite Creek. 
 
 JiCe's excellent plan of battle was thus in progress, 
 of execution. It was simple, as all great things are. 
 "While Magruder remained in fi'ont of Seven Pines, 
 that is to say, the Federal centre opposite Pichmond, 
 with orders to hold his position at all hazards, and to 
 the last, the remainder of the army was to cross at 
 ^leadow Bridge and Mechanicsville, and sweep down 
 the left branch of the stream in echelon of di\asions, 
 the left in advance. 
 
 Prom left to right the line 'would be, Jackson — D. 
 H. Hill — A. P. Hill — Longstreet ; Longstreet to 
 make a heavy feint on the ri^'er's banlv ; the two Hills 
 to protect his flank and the centre ; Jackson to move 
 around, and coming in upon their right, compel them 
 to abandon their strong works, come out into the open 
 fields, and either fight there, or retreat toward the 
 "White House — that is, their bread and meat. 
 
 Let the reader glance at the map. Without a map, 
 all descriptions of militaiw movements are, as Hamlet 
 says, but "words, words, words!" Pushing through 
 the fields and forests of Hanover, Jackson was to gain 
 ground toward the Pamunkey ; reach out his ponder- 
 ous arm beyond Cold Harbor; envelope the enemy's 
 position on Powhite Creek; and crush them in his 
 grasp, n they drew back and eluded him, so much 
 
 the better. In open fight, he would dash them to 
 7 
 
74 SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DAYS. 
 
 pieces, wliicli Tvas cheaper than a mortal grapple with 
 them behind the breastworks. 
 
 Such was the order of battle conceived and mapped 
 out, in its minutest details, by the clear brain of the 
 great soldier at the head of the Confederate Army. 
 What Lee had thus matm*ed in his tent, was translated 
 into action in the field, with little modification. Long- 
 street and A. P. Hill threw their columns against the 
 enemy near Gaines' Mill, and closed in, in a hand to 
 hand struggle ; nearly the whole Federal Anny was 
 discovered there in front of these two di^'isions, and 
 Jackson, advancing grimly, steadily, like a coming 
 Fate, to his appointed work of getting in the enemy's 
 rear, was now recalled, and ordered to concentrate his 
 entire force near the Old Cold Harbor House, and 
 attack. 
 
 He obeyed. The roar of artillery there doubtless 
 drew him ; for under that calm exterior was the in- 
 born spirit of "fight "which characterizes the lion or 
 the tiger. At the word, he changed his line of march, 
 half faced to the right ; and at five in the afternoon 
 swept forward to the arena upon which the mighty 
 adversaries had grappled in a mortal embrace. 
 
 He did not come too soon. Let us see what had 
 happened, but look first at the topography of the coun- 
 try. The character of the ground in battles often 
 saves or destroys. A swamp involves the fate of five 
 thousand men ; a mile of open field in front of worlis 
 crowned with cannon, means ten thousand corpses. In 
 the battle of Cold Harbor neither the swamp nor the 
 open ground was wanting, and it was the assailing 
 
SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DAYS. Y5 
 
 force which suffered from these features of the ter- 
 rain. 
 
 The writer of this page had been familiar with this 
 locality from his youth. lie thought he knew it well 
 before the war ; but, after June 27, 1862, he felt he 
 had nothing: more to learn. 
 
 Fancy a rollino* coimtry of fields, woods, water- 
 courses ; and, along the mai'gins of these water-courses, 
 swamps overgrown with brushwood, flags, and marsh- 
 grass — an actual jungle. You place the foot on firm 
 earth apparently, — it sinks. You step upon a pros- 
 trate log, — it turns. You try to advance, — ooze, slush, 
 brambles, and " jungle " are before you. 
 
 Through this swampy undergrowth, the haunt of 
 the owl, the whippoorwill, and the moccasin, the men 
 of Jackson, Hill, and Hood, charged triple lines of 
 Federal breastworks. 
 
 Where the swamp ended, the slopes appeared, — 
 slopes bare of trees, and swept from one end to the 
 other, as a broom sweeps a floor, by the shell or canis- 
 ter of artillery posted on the crests. 
 
 Across these slopes, the Confederate lines advanced 
 to storm the defences of Gen. McClellan. 
 
 Kear Gaines' Mill, and a little lower down, the 
 ground often rises into abrupt ridges, flanked by deep 
 ravines, which afford a fatal advantage to sharp- 
 shooters. 
 
 It was upon a ridge of this description, behind 
 Powhite Creek, — that is to say, behind open slope, 
 swampy imdergrowth, and sheltering ravine, — that 
 McClellan had erected his triple tiers of earthworks, 
 
76 SEVEN PINES AND TEE SEVEN DAYS. 
 
 defended by abattis, crammed with infantry, and brist- 
 lino: with cannon. 
 
 Beliind this impenetrable armor the great Federal 
 gladiator awaited the assault of the opponent, whose 
 skill and courasre no one knew better than himself. 
 
 The assault began between the hours of two and 
 three on a cloudless day of June, — one of those after- 
 noons when the face of nature seems to be wrapped in 
 calm repose, and the very birds appear to shunber. 
 The d^dng on that day were, at least, to see the blue 
 sky bending over them, and the sunlight glittering on 
 the woods and streams as they passed away. 
 
 A. P. Hill, pressing forward to the two or three 
 cabins called Xew Cold Harbor, threw himself upon 
 the Federal forces posted near that place, and soon 
 the battle began to rage with fiuy. 
 
 The style of the late " war correspondents " in the 
 journals will not be adopted by the present wi'iter, 
 here or elsewhere. It is easy to pile up adjectives, 
 and invent the curious phenomena of " iron hail," 
 "leaden storms," "tempests of projectiles," and "hur- 
 ricanes of canister, mo^^dng down whole ranks." Bat- 
 tle is a stern, not a poetical affair; the genius of 
 conflict a huge, dirty, bloody, and very hideous figure, 
 — not a melodramatic actor, spouting a part. Smoke, 
 uproar, blood, groans, cheei-s, and the cries of the dy- 
 ing enter into war ; but these are as small a portion of 
 the real subject as the " iron hail," or the " leaden 
 storms." Lee's plans, and the manner in which his 
 lieutenants carried them out, are more rational subjects 
 of interest than the roar of the artillery, or the groans 
 of the wounded. 
 
SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DAYS. 77 
 
 Hill charged the enemy's breastworks, swept over 
 the first and second lines, reached the third on the 
 summit of the ridge, stormed that, too, with the bay- 
 onet, — from the heights above the woods resounded 
 the Confederate cheers of victory. 
 
 They were not uttered a second time ; the men who 
 uttered them were at the next moment either driven 
 back into the ra\dne, or had passed to eternity. The 
 enemy had made a vigorous charge, regained their 
 works, and, advancing in their turn, drove the little 
 force of Ilill, about eight thousand men, steadily back 
 upon ^ew Cold Harbor. 
 
 The struggle now became more desperate and bloody 
 than before. Hill was a true heart of oak ; no human 
 soul was ever braver than this slender Virginian, in 
 his plain imiform, his old slouch hat, and with his 
 amiable smile. He never shrunk to the end of the 
 drama any more than there in the first act — peace to 
 that brave ! 
 
 For an hour after the successful assault upon the 
 Federal works. Hill continued to hold his ground near 
 New Cold Harbor, in spite of determined attacks, and 
 heavy loss ; but then it became evident that succor 
 must be sent him, or he would be swept away. With 
 him Lee's centre would disappear ; his wings would 
 be divided ; then good-bye to Longstreet — perhaps to 
 Jackson. 
 
 Lee acted with decision. Longstreet was ordered to 
 make a feint against the Federal left, upon the high 
 ridge in his front, and this he proceeded to do, with 
 that steady vigor which procured for him from Lee 
 the name of " The Old War-horse." His men ad- 
 
78 SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DATS. 
 
 vaiiced in face of a destructive lire of artillery from 
 the front, and the Federal guns beyond the stream ; 
 the feint was made, and the enemy did not mo\'e. 
 Then Longstreet, as always, assumed the responsibility 
 of acting according to his judgment, when a new 
 phase was presented by events. lie turned the feint 
 into an attack ; his men threw themselves with obsti- 
 nate courage against the enemy's works, and the battle 
 began to rage more furiously than ever. 
 
 Tor more than another hour Longstreet and Hill 
 held their orround in front of McClellan, receivino^ the 
 attack of a force amounting to about seventy thousand. 
 The two divisions opposed to this force numbered 
 about thirty thousand. Add the fact that tlie seventy 
 thousand were behind works, the Confederates in open 
 field, and the proportion will be really four to one. 
 
 The one fought the four until nearly five o'clock, 
 dpng where they fell, torn to pieces by artillery, or 
 riddled T\'ith musketrv, without a murmur. Men never 
 fought better, or died more bravely. The two com- 
 mands were slowly being destroyed — it was merely a 
 question of time — but they did not shrink or avoid 
 the work. 
 
 It was at this moment, when every heart began to 
 face the conviction that defeat and death awaited 
 them, that the long, roll of musketry and the thunder 
 of artillerv resounded from the woods in the direction 
 of Old Cold Harbor house. At ^hat sound every heart 
 throbbed, every face flushed. Fierce cheers ran along 
 the decimated lines of Hill and the remments of Lono-- 
 street, holding their ground obstinately. " Jackson ! 
 Jackson!" rose in a shout so wild and triumphant, 
 
SEVBJY PIIiFS AND TEE SEVEN DAYS. 79 
 
 that it rolled across tlie woods, and reached the ears of 
 tlie Federal army. 
 
 It was truly Jackson who arrived — tlie Deus ex 
 tnachiiia — and General Lee, who had awaited that 
 welcome sound, spurred forward and met his great 
 associate. 
 
 The spectacle was interesting — the contrast between 
 the two illustrious soldiers very striking. Jackson was 
 riding a raw-boned sorrel, with his knees drawn up by 
 the short stirrups, his eyes peering out from beneatJi 
 the low rim of his faded cap ; there was absolutely 
 nothing about liim, save the dingy stars on his collar, 
 to indicate his rank. Lee, on the contrary, was clad 
 in a neat uniform, with decorations — rode an excel- 
 lent and carefully-groomed horse, and every detail of 
 his person, every movement of the erect and graceful 
 fio;ure of the most stately cavalier in the Southern 
 army, revealed his elevated character, the conscious- 
 ness of command, a species of moral and " official " 
 grandeur both, which it was impossible to mistake. 
 The Almighty had made both these human beings 
 truly great; to only one of them had He given the 
 additional grace of looking great. 
 
 '*' xih. General ! " said Lee, grasping Jackson's hand, 
 " 1 am very glad to see you; I had hoped to have been 
 with you before." 
 
 Jackson saluted, and returned the pressure of that 
 hand, of whose owner he said, " He is a phenomenon ; 
 he is the only man 1 would follow blindfold ! " 
 
 Gen. Lee then looked with anxiety in the direction 
 of the firino: on the left. 
 
so SEVEN PINES AND TUE SEVEN DATS, 
 
 " That fii-e is very liea^y ," lie said, in his deep voice ; 
 "' do you think your men can stand it, General ? " 
 
 Jackson turned his head quickly, listened for an in- 
 stant, and then replied in the curt tones so familiar to 
 all who knew him : 
 
 " They can stand almost anything. General. They 
 can stand that ! " 
 
 Ten minutes after uttering these words, Jackson 
 saluted his commander, put spur to his raw-boned 
 horse, and went at full speed to rejoin his corps, which 
 in his own words, had " closed in upon the front and 
 rear of the enemy, and was pressing forward." 
 
 Lee remained at the centre. There he was ready to 
 deliver his great blow. 
 
 It came without delay, and was struck at the heart. 
 Itecoiling from the heavy pressure of Jackson on his 
 right, McClellan threw that wing of his army a little 
 to the rear, to avoid being flanked, and then, concen- 
 trating his best troops upon the commanding ridge, 
 near McGhee's house, received the Confederate assault 
 with sullen courage. 
 
 That assault was resolute, desperate, of unfaltering 
 obstinacy. To cany the formidable position which the 
 Federal forces occupied, the heaviest fighting was a 
 necessity; this ponderous obstacle could only be re- 
 moved by gigantic blows ; the hammer might be shat- 
 tered, but it must strike until it broke in the hand of 
 him who ^vielded it. Closing up his lines as the regi- 
 ments grew thimier, Lee presented to the enemy, at 
 five in the evening, an unbroken front, with Longstreet 
 clinging, with teeth and claws, to the ground on the 
 right, A. P. Hill's decimated division fighting in the 
 
SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DAYS. 81 
 
 centre, and Jackson sweeping forward tlii'ongli the 
 woods and swamps npon the left. 
 
 From this moment the interest of the battle of Cold 
 Harbor concentrates npon the movements of Jackson. 
 Hill was worn out by his long and tremendous strug- 
 gle ; Longstreet was reeling mider the enonnous blows 
 dealt at him; Jackson was fresh, "in full feather," 
 and steadily advancing. 
 
 Let us pass to that portion of the field, and look at 
 the man of Port Republic and his veterans. To see 
 them fighting in old days was a splendid spectacle ; to 
 recall their combats is, even now, a. thing to make the 
 pulses throb. 
 
 Jackson's corps had gone in. The sinking sun was 
 ahnost hidden by the lurid smoke which rose from the 
 woods ; the ears were deafened by the streaming vol- 
 leys of musketry and the thunder of artillery. Jack- 
 son was ridinsT to and fi'O in the fields around Cold 
 Harbor, silent, abstracted, glancing quickly at you if 
 you spoke to him, and sucking a lemon. 
 
 A sta:ff officer gallops up, and salutes the plain- 
 looking soldier. 
 
 "Gen. Hood directs me to say. General, that his 
 line is enfiladed by a battery of thirty-pound Parrotts, 
 which are decimating his men, and making it impos- 
 sible for him to advance ! " 
 
 Jackson rises in his stirrups and beckons to an 
 officer, who hastens up, saluting. 
 
 " Go back and get fifteen or eighteen guns," h'e says 
 to the latter, "attack that battery, and see that the 
 enemy's guns are either silenced or destroyed." 
 
 The officer gallops off, and in twenty minutes a 
 
82 SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DAYS. 
 
 tremendons roar is heard from the left ; a furious duel 
 between nearly fifty pieces of artillery, all apparently 
 firing at the same moment, takes place ; then the Fed- 
 eral fii'e slackens, and from the woods arise wild cheei^s 
 as Hood's men charge. 
 
 Half an hour then passes. Jackson is riding to and 
 fro, still abstracted, and sucking his lemon, when a 
 second officer hastens up, and reports that D. H. Hill 
 is hard pressed, and must have reinforcements. 
 
 " Where is the Stonewall Brigade ? " Jackson asks, 
 abruptly. 
 
 " Behind that hill. General," says a member of his 
 staff, pointing to a clump of woods. 
 
 " Order it to advance to the support of General 
 Hill." 
 
 The officer disappears at a gallop in the woods ; five 
 minutes afterwards a line of glittering bayonets emerges 
 from the copse. Above them fiutters the bullet-riddled 
 flag. 
 
 Jackson's eye flashes at them from beneath his faded 
 cap. 
 
 " Good ! " he says, in his quick tones ; " we will have 
 good news in a few minutes now ! " 
 
 The old brigade passes over the wide field, plunges 
 into the wood in front; then a long, steady roar of 
 musketry is heard. ■ Hill is reinforced, and can press 
 on. 
 
 From this time the battle is no lono-er a confiict of 
 human beings, but a mortal grapple of wild beasts. 
 An incredible bitterness seems to inspire the oppo- 
 nents ; in spite of the desperate attack of the South- 
 
SEVEN PINES AND TEE SEVEN DAYS. 83 
 
 eniei's, the Federal lines still hold tlieir ground with 
 splendid gallantry, not receding an inch. 
 
 Jackson is looking tOAvard the front, and listening 
 in silence to Stuart, whose cavahy is drawn up on the 
 left, when a messenger arrives from Ewell. 
 
 " General Ewell directs me to say, sir, that the enemy 
 do not give way in his front." 
 
 Jackson rose in his saddle ; his eye blazed ; extend- 
 ing the hand in which he held the lemon, he replied : 
 
 " Tell Gen. Ewell, if they stand at sunset, to press 
 them with the bayonet ! " 
 
 The words were jerked from the lips, rather than 
 spoken. They made the heart of one listener beat. 
 
 Ewell charged. Hood charged, the whole Southern 
 Army swept forward, as though the low words of 
 Jackson had been breathed in every ear. 
 
 In fi^ont of Hood was a tangled swamp, an almost 
 impenetrable thicket, and a ditch apparently impassa- 
 ble — beyond was a high hill bristling with cannon, 
 vomitino; shell and canister. Hood rushed in front of 
 his Texans. 
 
 " Forward ! quick march ! " was his order. 
 
 The line swept forward in the midst of an appalling 
 fire, leaving the ground littered wdth dead and dying, 
 — among the former was Col. Marshall, one of the 
 best ofiicers of the Fourth Texas. 
 
 " Close -up ! close up to the colors ! " came from the 
 lips of Hood. 
 
 The line closed up, broke through the swamp, cleared 
 the ditch, and rushed up the hill, in face of the mur- 
 derous fire of the Federal guns. 
 
84 SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DATS 
 
 " Forward ! " shouted Hood, " forward ! charge right 
 on them, and drive them with the bayonet ! " 
 
 Bayonets were fixed, as the men mshed f onvard ; 
 they charged the breastworks in their path ; the enemy 
 gave way and fled ; the flag of the Texans was placed 
 npon the works which crowTied the hill, and then arose 
 a shont which made the forest ring. " Eight and lef t,'- 
 says an eye-witness of the scene, " it was taken up and 
 ran along the line for miles, long after many of those 
 who had started it were in eternity." 
 
 Hood had lost a thousand men, but he had taken 
 fourteen pieces of artillery, a regiment of prisoners, 
 and had won for his command the right to place upon 
 their battle-flag the words which Jackson uttered the 
 next day, on looking at the ground : 
 
 "The men who carried this position were soldiers 
 indeed ! " 
 
 The sun had sunk ; the enemy had been " pressed 
 with the bayonet ; " the Federal army were in hopeless 
 disorder and full retreat toward Grapevine bridge — • 
 on their way, that is, toward James River, where, under 
 the port-holes of the Federal gunboats, was the only 
 hope of safety. 
 
 The fields and forests of is'ew Kent were covered 
 with the dying and the dead ; in the shadowy swamps 
 upon which night had descended, some of the bravest 
 gentlemen of the South were passing slowly, as their 
 blood flowed, drop by drop, into eternity ; aromid them 
 were the dead fathers, brothers, sons, and husbands of 
 Southern children, sisters, mothers, and wives — but the 
 " Star-Spangled Banner " had gone down in the storm, 
 and the '' Red-Cross Flag " was floating still. 
 
SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DAYS. 85 
 
 . Two days afterwards, Gen. McClellan's disheartened 
 forces were undergoing the horrors of that terrible 
 retreat to the James River. They were retreating day 
 and night, horse, foot, and gnns, with the foe upon their 
 track ; but it was a retreat which will remain forever 
 famous in history. In the Federal commander was 
 skill, corn-age, the heart that does not despair. In his 
 army was a nerve in face of defeat, and an equanimity 
 under advei-se fortune, which are prouder glories for 
 the Federal flag than the poor repulse of Lee at Gettys- 
 burg, or the burlesque " victory " of Sheridan with his 
 forty-five thousand over Early with his ten thousand at 
 Opequon. 
 
 At the bridge in Wliite Oak Swamp, McClellan sul- 
 lenly confronted Jackson, and said to that King of 
 Battle, " Halt ! " And he halted. 
 
 At Frazer's Farm, the veterans of Longstreet tried 
 to drive the Federal forces fi'om their ground — and 
 they failed. 
 
 At Malvern Hill, Gen. Lee made a resolute attack 
 upon the position of McClellan; threw the elite of 
 his army on the enemy's line, in charge after charge 
 — and at night the obstinate blue lines were still un- 
 broken ; skill, courage, and obstinacy in the General 
 and his troops had foiled the best soldier of the age. 
 It is true that before morning, McClellan abandoned 
 his position, and retreated to James River. But that 
 was the movement of a good soldier. Defeated at 
 " Cold Harbor " in a pitched battle, army against army, 
 he had brought off his troops, repulsed every assault, 
 cut his way through, and was saved. 
 
 Looking back now, over the wide field, through the 
 8 
 
86 SEVEN PINES AND TEE SEVEN DAYS. 
 
 lurid smoke, let us try to discover what tlie gigantic 
 struggle meant — what the result really was. 
 
 One glance is sufficient. 
 
 Gen. McClellan had invaded Yirginia, and was with- 
 in live miles of Kichmondj with one hundi'ed and fifty 
 thousand men. 
 
 On the 25th of June, he was about to advance, and 
 fully believed that the city would fall. On the 2d of 
 July, he was thirty miles distant from it, seeking shelter 
 under the gunboats on James Eiver. 
 
 He had lost a great battle ; an appalling number of 
 his men ; a large part of his artilleiy ; thousands of 
 small arms ; twenty-five miles of country, and his head 
 was about to fall. 
 
 To the candid observer this meant decisive defeat. 
 It is certain that the world thought so — and the most 
 penetrating military mind in the Southern army was in 
 favour of prompt action, upon that theor}\ 
 
 One day, after Malvern Hill, while conversing with 
 a fi'iend in his tent, Jackson rose from his camp couch, 
 struck the pillow with sudden violence, and exclaimed : 
 
 " TvTiy don't we advance ? Xow is the time for an 
 advance into Pennsylvania ! McClellan is paralyzed, 
 and the Scipio Afiicanus policy is the best ! Let the 
 President only give me the men, and I will undertake 
 it. Gen. Lee, I believe, would go; but perhaps he 
 cannot. People say he is slow. Gen. Lee is 7iot 
 slow. ]S"o one knows the weight upon his heart — his 
 great responsibilities. I have kno^^m Gen. Lee for 
 five-and-twenty years — he is cautious ; he ought to be. 
 But he is 7wt ' slow.' Lee is a phenomenon ; he is the 
 only man whom I would follow blindfold ! " 
 
; SEVEN PINES AND THE SEVEN DATS. 87 
 
 Wliy was not tliis policy adopted ? The reply to that 
 question will be disinterred, probably, some day, from 
 the depths of the Department of " Eebel Archives " at 
 Washington. 
 
 A month afterwards it was seen that Jackson was 
 right. That " erratic " individual had, as usual, arrived 
 at the solution of the problem by " good luck " — not 
 brains. This of course. 
 
 Pope was in Culpeper, plundering and burning; 
 McClellan was decapitated — it was necessary to go 
 and fight Pope's " Army of Virginia ; " the battle took 
 place ; then, dragged by the current of events, the 
 Confederate authorities advanced to Maryland. 
 
 But the golden moment had passed away. In July, 
 the Scipio Afiicanus policy was the best — in Septem- 
 ber it was the worst. The soldier who had retreated 
 before Lee from Cold Harbor, again appeared in his 
 front, joined battle at Sharpsburg, and Lee was com- 
 pelled to retreat in turn. 
 
 In the fall of 1864, the present writer rei^sited the 
 country around Cold Harbor, and looked with interest 
 upon the localities where the gigantic struggle had 
 taken place in June, 1862. After that time, he had 
 not again seen the ground, not even when the wave of 
 war bore him thither in June, 1864; for then Gen. 
 Grant had taken a fancy to the neighborhood, and his 
 hea^^ earthworks barred the way. 
 
 In that autumn preceding the downfall of the 
 Confederacy, the appearance of the battle-field was 
 bleak, sombre, and had a dolorous effect upon the 
 feelings. There was the old Cold Harbor House, torn 
 and dismantled, near which " the gallant Pelham " had 
 
88 SEVEN PINES AND TEE SEVEN DAYS. 
 
 been greeted by Jackson as he came back from his 
 guns — where was Pelliam? 
 
 There was the knoll where Jackson and Stuart rode 
 between the guns at nightfall ; there was the solitary 
 oak, torn now by cannon balls, under which they 
 had conversed that night — where were Jackson and 
 Stuart? 
 
 Dead — Pelham at Kelly's ford; Jackson at Chan- 
 cellorsville ; Stuart at Yellow Tavern. 
 
 These immortals, whose hands I had touched, whose 
 voices I had listened to, whose smile had greeted me, 
 had gone down in the bloody gulf of battle, to appear 
 no more; but their eyes still shone, their words still 
 resounded, their figures still moved amid the bleak 
 and melancholy fields around Cold Harbor. 
 
 They were there on the 27th of June, 1862 — and 
 are there forever! 
 
lY. 
 
 THE SECOND MANASSAS. 
 
 " TJiis week is the crisis of our fateP 
 
 Does the reader remember when and by whom 
 these words were wi'itten % 
 
 If they greet his eyes for the first time to-day, and 
 his sympathies be anti-Sonthern, he will say, perhaps : 
 
 "Johnston or Beanreo-nard wrote thus from Bull 
 Eim in July, 1861 — Jackson from Port Eepublic in 
 June, 1862 — or Lee fi'om Gettysburg in 1863." 
 
 On the contrary, it was McClellan, who penned that 
 brief and pithy dispatch fi'om Alexandria on the 1st 
 day of September, 1862, when the disorganized bat- 
 tallions of Maj. Gen. Pope were hastening towards 
 the protecting defences of Washington. 
 
 To-day the world knows that his fears were well 
 founded. Xever had the day looked darker for the 
 Federal cause than then. I^ever had the overthrow of 
 the Confederacy seemed so hopeless. "Worse still— a 
 great and real danger menaced the Federal seat of 
 government. The authorities trembled in their bu- 
 reaux; each moment they expected to see the red 
 battle-flag of Lee upon the Arlington hills, each in- 
 stant to hear the tramp of his legions under the walls 
 of the Capitol. 
 
 (89) 
 
00 TEE SECOND MANAS8A8. 
 
 Throngliout the three preceding days they had heard 
 the long, contmuous roar of cannon from the fields of 
 Prmce William. Every hour great parties of strag- 
 glers had made their appearance opposite Chain Bridge. 
 Every moment, almost, until the Y»'ires no longer worked, 
 depressing telegrams had come from the army of Gen. 
 Pope, and each one was more disheartening than the 
 last. ^11 knew that a great battle had been fought 
 again on the bleak plains dotted with pine-trees, oppo- 
 site the weird Stone Brido^e : that the fields of Manas- 
 sas, already crowded with dead, had become the 
 charnel house of other thousands — that the shadows 
 there had depeened, the spot become trebly cursed 
 again by blood and destruction. The result of that 
 three days' roar of cannon and rattle of musketry was 
 the pithy telegram which is given above : 
 
 " This week is the crisis of om* fate." 
 
 Kow, what were the events which rolled the great 
 wave of battle once more to the shores of Bull Pun, 
 addini? a new and more trasric interest to the sombre 
 hills and ravines of this historic spot? The fifth act 
 of a tragedy is badly understood without a knowledge 
 of the acts which precede it. In rapidly tracing these, 
 time will not be lost, nor is it the amusememt of the 
 reader which we aim at. The truth of the Yirs^inia 
 campaigns has been buried beneath great tomes full of 
 falsehood — beneath enormous party pamj^hlets like 
 the " Peport of the Committee on the Conduct of the 
 War," where every grain of wheat is liidden by a 
 bushel of chaff — where, consequently, it is chiefly 
 chaff ou which the reader feeds. Chaff is not a whole- 
 
THE SECOND MANASSAS. 91 
 
 some diet. To those wlio prefer the wheat of truth, 
 these sketches are addressed. 
 
 What had occurred in that month of August, 1862, 
 was this : 
 
 Defeated before Richmond, Gen. McClellan had 
 di'awn upon his devoted head the thunder and light- 
 ning of the Federal displeasure. 'Xh.Q world said that 
 the hapless issue there, resulted from the general- 
 ship of Lee, and the fighting qualities of his troops. 
 Gen. Halleck said that it resulted from the incapacity 
 of McClellan. In vain did Gen. McClellan " pro- 
 pose to cross James River at that point," Harrison's 
 Landing, " attach Petersburg^ ai%d cut off the enemy's 
 communication hy that route South,^^ which plan, 
 when Gen. Grant adopted it, was greeted with ho- 
 sannahs. What was thus approved in 1864, was con- 
 temptuously scouted in 1862 — McClellim suggested it, 
 not Grant — and the record remains. Gen. Halleck 
 " stated to him very frankly my views in regard to the 
 danger and impracticability of the plan ; " " he was 
 not allowed to carry out his " impracticable '^ scheme ; 
 more still, he was summoned to Washington, shelved 
 there, and his forces were assigned to General Pope, 
 then bent upon a great advance toward the Rapidan. 
 
 Gen. Pope arrived at his head-quarters in a car 
 decked out with flags ; stated, it is said, that hitherto 
 he had seen nothino: of his enemies " but their backs : " 
 and issued an order to the army in which he said : " Let 
 us study the probable line of retreat of our opponents, 
 and leave om* own to take care of itself. Let us look 
 
 * Conduct of War. Part 1, 454. 
 
02 TEE SECOND MAKASSAS, 
 
 before and not behind. Disaster and sliame Im-k in 
 the rear." 
 
 The sequel, as the reader will perceive, was the most 
 grotesque of commentaries on the General's military 
 theor)^ It was on his " line of retreat " that Jackson 
 struck the mortal blow at him. 
 
 Gen. Pope thus bade dehance to militaiy science 
 and fate, and it connot be said that he conciliated the 
 smiles of Providence, the All-Merciful, who watches 
 over the helpless. Culpeper County was desolated 
 with fire and sword. Y/hen the Federal troops re- 
 treated, it was one great waste, full of homeless and 
 starving women and children, whose cries went up to 
 God. But let that pass. The first blow struck by 
 Gen. Pope was not fortmiate. He delivered battle 
 at Cedar Mountain, where, on the 9th of August, on a 
 lovely afternoon, he was defeated by Jackson. The 
 fight was obstinate, and the field covered with dead ; 
 but the August moon, bathing the slopes of Slaughter 
 Mountain, saw the Southern banner fioating on the bat- 
 tle-field, and the Federal forces hastening back toward 
 Culpeper Court House, pursued by Jackson. 
 
 This battle. Gen. Pope said afterwards, was lost 
 by Gen. Banks, in consequence of his disobedience 
 of orders. That General denied the charge, and 
 brought a "railing accusation" against Gen. Pope, 
 of incapacity, and indisposition to venture on the field 
 of battle. The record does not make the truth aj^par- 
 enj:, for the clearest issue of veracity is involved re- 
 lating to the orders. 
 
 Cedar Pun was a defeat of the Federal forces, since 
 they retired; Jackson followed, and two days after- 
 
TEE SECOND MANASSAS. 93 
 
 wards Gen. Pope requested permission to bury his 
 dead. But liea^y Federal reserves were behind, J'ack- 
 son's force was small, and he retreated beliind the 
 Kapidan. 
 
 The Federal design was now developed. They had 
 abandoned all fmther efforts to take Eichmond from 
 below, and had concentrated north of the Eappahan- 
 nock. Gen. Lee accordingly put his main body in 
 motion; advanced to the Eapidan, crossed the river, 
 and streamed forward to cut oft" his opponents from 
 the Eappahannock — a movement which induced them 
 to fall back with rapidity, and take up a position on 
 the northern margin of the stream. 
 
 Such was the first illustration of the Federal Gen- 
 eral's theory in reference to lines of retreat. That dis- 
 aster lurked in the rear was now to receive a proof 
 more emphatic. 
 
 Before crossing the Eapidan, Gen. Stuart, command- 
 ing the cavalry of the Longstreet army, had met with 
 a vexatious mishap. He had ordered one of his brig- 
 ades to rendezvous at the little tillage of Yerdiers^-ille 
 — had gone thither vdih his staff, and omitting, as 
 usual, every precaution looking to his personal safety, 
 had lain down on the porch of a small house in the 
 village, where he slept^^mguarded even by a single 
 vidette. The consequence was that a Federal cavalry 
 regiment, prowling around, surprised him just at dawn; 
 he was forced to leap on horseback and jump the fence 
 to escape — and so hasty was this movement, the enemy 
 being close upon him, that he left behind him his hat 
 and cape, which they bore off in triumph, to the great 
 disgust of the gay cavalier. 
 
94 THE SECOND MANASSAS. 
 
 Yerdiersville was thus a spot where Stuart had reg- 
 istered a laus-hino- oath of veii2:eance. lie was now 
 about to fulfill it Avitli a " ])oetic j ustice " seldom met 
 with outside of the covers of a romance. 
 
 Gen. Pope had retreated beyond the Happahannock, 
 where he thundered at every ford with his numerous 
 artillery, and an attack in front was evidently injudi- 
 cious, if not impracticable. To flanlv him was evidently 
 the most judicious course, and to cut his communica- 
 tions would seriously cripple him. Stuart set out with 
 his cavalry to cut them. 
 
 In the midst of night and storm, he struck the 
 Orange railroad at Catletts ; charged pell-mell into the 
 Federal camps ; threw everything into enormous con- 
 fusion, and ransacked the whole place. . A singular 
 chance had directed him. Catletts was Gen. Pope's" 
 head-quarters, but he was either absent or managed to 
 escape. lie, however, left behind him his most private 
 official papers, and his persoiial effects, including his 
 uniform coat. These were borne off by Stuart and 
 safely brought back. 
 
 The papers contained the fullest statement of Gen. 
 Pope's forces, position, designs ; his hopes, fears, all 
 that should be guarded, under triple steel, from an 
 adversary. If Gen. Lee had determined upon the 
 great flank movement which followed, thesei papei-s 
 confirmed his intention. If he had not, they decided 
 him. 
 
 Stuart returned laughing to his quarters. On the 
 way he met Gen. Jackson. 
 
 " Here is Pope's coat, General," he said, holding it 
 
THE SECOND MAITASSA8. 95 
 
 up ; " if lie will send me back my liat, I will send Mm 
 back his coat." 
 
 Jackson smiled, as be always did, when be beard tbe 
 laughing accents of that brave voice. Then he be- 
 came thoughtful again ; he was developing in his 
 profound intellect the details of the great blow which, 
 in obedience to the orders of Lee, he was about to 
 deliver. 
 
 The design of Lee was more than daring, it was cor- 
 rect. Absurdest of the absurd is that philosophy of 
 war which, ignorantly pointing to Caesar and [N'apoleon 
 as examples, erects adaucity above science, and decries 
 sound principles in warfare. Examine the campaigns 
 of Lee, the greatest living soldier, and his movements 
 everywhere will be found " correct." Place him where 
 Gen. Pope then was — he would never have been 
 flanked and cut off. Gen. Pope's order desired the 
 men to " dismiss from their minds certain phrases — 
 lines of retreat, and bases of supply." His destruction 
 followed. 
 
 Lee's plan was simply to send a column of about 
 twenty thousand men across the upper Eappahannock ; 
 thence by a rapid march to Thoroughfare Gap ; and 
 thence to Manassas, where Gen. Pope had estab- 
 lished his main depot of supplies. If the column was 
 pushed rapidly, it might arrive before Gen. Pope — 
 Mannassas would be destroyed — the Federal army 
 starved — Lee would follow, and thus the Southei'n 
 army would be concentrated on the enemy's line of 
 retreat — starving,, faint, disheartened, they would find 
 in their path, strongly posted to receive them, the vet- 
 
96 TEE SECOND MANASSAS. 
 
 eran bayonets of Jackson and Longstreet, held in the< 
 firm grasp of Lee. 
 
 To command tlie advance corps, Jackson was se- 
 lected — that great " right arm " whose loss Lee la- 
 mented so bitterly after Chancellorsville. The peculiar 
 trait of Jackson as a soldier was that he always arrived 
 in time. Others failed often — he never did. He moved 
 with the mathematical accm*acy of a macliine. If he 
 undertook to arrive, he arrived, if not with his whole 
 force, vrith a part of it. Those broken down would 
 probably catch up — meanwhile, he attacked. For 
 great examples, take Kernstown, McDowell, and 
 Shai'psburg. 
 
 Jackson put his column in motion up the river, and 
 from that moment advanced like an avenging fate — 
 never pausing, allowing nothing to affect his fixed pur- 
 pose. Before the most rapid vidette could bear the 
 news to Gen. Pope, he had dragged his artillery 
 across the narrow, rock-ribbed, and forgotten ford at 
 Hinson's ; pressed on to Orleans ; and was head- 
 ing straight for Thoroughfare. For the time he 
 seemed to have forgotten the existence of roads. The 
 column moved apparently on the theory that where 
 two men can place their feet, an army can pass. When 
 they came to fences, they threw them down ; when 
 they met with streams, tliey waded. Jackson thus ad- 
 vanced, an eye-witness says, " across open fields, by 
 strange country roads, and comfortable homesteads, 
 on and on, as if he would never cease." It was th'e 
 " bee line " that he was takinor. When the Confeder- 
 ates were marching over nearly the same ground in 
 

 TEE SECOND MANASSAS. 97 
 
 . June, 1863, a soldier asked an old negro where tliey 
 were going. "^ 
 
 " All right, Master," replied the old man, smilin- 
 " Yon are going the same road Mas' Jackson took last 
 year, only he took the nigh-cutsP 
 
 At sunset on the 25th of August, the column " mov- 
 ing on briskly without a straggler," was approachin- 
 balem. Jackson sat his horse with the light of suiT- 
 set on his bared forehead — for he had taken off his 
 old cap to salute the men — and his face was lit up 
 mth a proud smile. iVTo sound was heard but the 
 shuffling feet of the great column, and the rolUno- 
 wheels of the artillery ; the men whispered, " Don't 
 shout, boys, the Yankees will hear us ; " for orders had 
 been issued that music, cheers, shouts, should all be 
 stopped, as they were now approaching the enemy. 
 
 Jackson had coimted, nevertheless, "without his 
 host." There was something the men could not do, 
 and that was refrain from cheering their favorite' 
 For a time they passed by waving tlieir hats in silence' 
 to the bare-headed soldier. Then the stream broke 
 through. Some one, carried away at sight of the old 
 faded uniform, the dingy cap and the familiar face, 
 raised a shout— with that the torrent burst forth. A 
 roar wild, thundering, tmnultous, reverberated across 
 the fields and in the forests— and Jackson succumbed 
 for that greeting stirred his soldier-pride and con- 
 quered him. 
 
 J^ You see I can't stop them !" he said, turning to an 
 offacer. " Who could fail to win victory with those 
 men?" 
 
 Strange confidence, had it not been, justified by ex- 
 
98 THE SECOND MANASSAS. 
 
 perience ! " Those men " were the veriest tatterdema- 
 lions who ever, Avith their rags, affronted the sun! 
 Such scarecrows had never before carried muskets, 
 and that implement alone established their claim to 
 the title of soldiers. It is true that their method 
 of carpng it removed all doubts. They were faint, 
 half -starved, weary unto death, and in rags ; but they 
 laughed, and their bayonets were bright. 
 
 It was Gen. Lee who said that there was one oc- 
 casion when he was never ashamed of the appear- 
 ance of liis soldiers — when they were fighting. 
 
 At dawn on the 26th, after a brief rest at Salem, 
 Jackson moved again, reached Thoroughfare Gap, 
 passed unopposed between its pine-clad ramparts ; 
 and debouching through its eastern mouth, swooped 
 down upon the rear of Gen. Pope. 
 
 The march had been a complete success. Stuart's 
 cavalry had presented an impenetrable barrier to the 
 enemy's liorsemen, thus completely shielding the great 
 movement ; Jackson had arrived, next came the 
 fighting, and the cannon soon began to roar. The 
 plains around Manassas, silent, asleep, cursed it might 
 have been said, through those long months since 
 July, 1861, had started, opened affrighted eyes, and 
 again began to groan as the dogs of war coursed 
 backward and forward again over the fields where 
 the foot sank into graves. 
 
 To comprehend v/hat followed, the reader must look 
 at the map. Many who read these lines, will probably 
 need no such reference — having fought there. 
 
 The "situation" may be conveyed in a few words. 
 Jackson, with twenty thousand men, was in Gen. Pope's 
 
TEE SECOND MANASSAS. 99 
 
 rear; Lee was rQO%'ing rapidly to join him; Gen. 
 Pope, warned at last of the fate which threatened him, 
 was hastening back from the Rappahannock to extri- 
 cate liimself fi'om the terrible trap in which he was 
 nearly caught. 
 
 But his situation was by no means discouraging. 
 While Lee, with the great reserve under Longstreet, 
 moved over the arc of the circle, by way of Thorough- 
 fare, the Federal commander could move over the 
 chord, by way of the Orange railroad. He had the 
 straight line to Manassas, that is to say, to Jackson, 
 whose twenty thousand men he ought surely, with 
 his large army, to be able to crush before Lee's arrival. 
 
 -That result was indeed looked upon as cert^i^, and 
 I^orthern correspondents — those childrefi. gf enthu- 
 siasm — wrote to their papers that the great Stonewall 
 Jackson was at last securely hemmed in, and out-gen- 
 eraled, flanked, cut off, and as good as captured. 
 
 . The personage thus threatened was meanwhile at 
 work. He knew that Gen. Pope's great column 
 would soon be hurled against him, mad with rage and 
 anticipated triumph ; and the Virginian doubtless pro- 
 ceeded on the hj^othesis that nothing tempers rage in 
 men, as in animals, like staiwation. The destruction 
 of the great stores at Manassas meant starvation for 
 Gen. Pope's followers, and Jackson hastened to destroy 
 them. Stuart rushed in with his cavalry, and an 
 infantry detachment. The mighty mass of stores was 
 kindled ; the flames soared aloft, and that black cloud 
 of smoke upon the horizon must have announced to 
 Gen. Pope that his precious bread and meat, and for- 
 
100 TEE SECOND MANASSAS. 
 
 age, that is to say, the sustenance of his men and ani- 
 mals, were being destroyed. 
 
 Wliat he coTild not do, being out-generaled, the 
 authorities at Washington did. They sent a brigade 
 under the brave Gen. Taylor to protect the depot ; but 
 admirably as this brigade attacked, it was driven back, 
 pursued toward Alexandi-ia, and the fate of Manassas 
 was sealed. The men of Jackson swarmed in and ran- 
 sacked it. 
 
 Many memoirs of that strange and grotesque scene 
 have been written. In the midst of the burning store 
 houses, burning cars, burning sutlers' shops, surrounded 
 by fire, smoke, utter confusion, amid shouts, cheers, 
 cries, laughter, the men were feasting on unlieard-of 
 delicacies, and with thii^ty throats guzzling rich wines 
 and cordials. 
 
 "'Twas a curious sight," says one, "to see our ragged 
 and famished men helping themselves to every imagin- 
 able article of luxury or necessity, whether of clothing, 
 food, or what not. For my part, I got a tooth-brush, 
 a box of candles, a quantity of lobster-salad, a barrel 
 of coffee, and other things which I forget. The scene 
 utterly beggared description. Our men had been liv- 
 ing on roasted corn since crossing the Eappahannock, 
 and we had brought no wagons, so we could cany 
 little away of the riches before us. But the men could 
 eat one meal at least. So they were marched up, and 
 as much of everything eatable served out as they could 
 cany. To see a starving man eating lobster-salad, and 
 drinkinsT Ehine wine, barefooted and in tatters, was 
 curious ; the whole thing was indescribable." 
 
 A warlike music suddenly came to mingle itself 
 
TEB SECOND MANASSAS. 101 
 
 with the unaccustomed banquet. From the direction 
 of Bristoe, a station on the Orange raih'oad, about four 
 miles from Manassas, came the long, continuous thun- 
 der of artillery. 
 
 It was EwelFs. That commander had been sent to 
 hold the front, while Jackson proceeded to destroy the 
 great depot at Manassas, and he was scarcely in posi- 
 tion when the head of Gen. Pope's advancing army 
 struck him. It was commanded by Gen. Hooker, 
 whom Jackson was to overwhelm at Chancellorsville. ' 
 
 A rough wrestle followed. Ewell threw forward 
 three regiments, opened with artilleiy, and attacked so 
 boldly that Gen. Pope seems to have believed that he 
 had in front of him the entire Confederate force. He 
 consequently paused, hurried forward his main body, 
 and prepared for battle. Ewell continued to roar defi- 
 ance with his artillery, and show an unmoved front. 
 Pope advanced a heavy force ; Ewell advanced to meet 
 it; the two columns seemed about to close in, in a 
 decisive struggle, when flames were seen to rise from 
 the bridge over Broad Eun, between the opponents, 
 and when the smoke drifted away, Ewell had disap- 
 peared, laughing grimly, doubtless, after his fashion, 
 at the result. 
 
 He had kept Gen. Pope off of Jackson's rear, while 
 Manassas was burning; that point was evacuated; 
 when Gen. Pope rushed in on the next morning, his 
 great adversary had disappeared. JS^thing greeted 
 him but burning store houses and blackened ruins, 
 from which a few cavalry videttes retired at his 
 approach, disappearing in the woods. 
 9* 
 
102 TEE SECOND MANASSAS. 
 
 The bread, meat, and forage of his army was a heap 
 of ashes. 
 
 This destruction of his stores was truly unfortunate 
 for the Federal commander ; but that was not all. His 
 enemy had vanished. Where was he? Gen. Pope 
 had fully expected to find him at Manassas ; and, on 
 the preceding day, had written to McDowell : " If you 
 will march promptly and rapidly at the earliest 
 moment down upon Manassas Junction, we shall bag 
 the whole crowd." 
 
 But '' at the earliest dawn " of the 28th Jackson had 
 disappeared, leaving Gen. Pope greatly bewildered in 
 reference to his whereabouts. The cotemporary opin- 
 ions expressed by the subordinates of that officer are 
 not complimentary. 
 
 "All that talk about bagging Jackson," wrote Gen. 
 Porter, "was bosh. That enormous gap, Manassas, 
 was left open, and the enemy jumped through." 
 "Jackson's forces," he added, "were reported to be 
 wandering around loose, but I expect that they know 
 what they are doing, which is more than any one here, 
 or anywhere, knows." On the 2Sth, Gen. Pope is 
 declared to have hastened toward Centreville, "not 
 knowing at the time 'where was the enemy." 
 
 And that enemy ought to have been looked for 
 where he ought to have heen. He ought to have been 
 where he could form a junction with Lee, then ap- 
 proaching Thoroughfare — that is to say, near Grove- 
 ton; Thither, in fact, Jackson had moved after the 
 destruction of Manassas, on the night of the 2Tth, 
 thus escaping Gen. Pope, who rushed into the great 
 
THE SECOND MANASSAS. 103 
 
 smouldering pandemonium during the forenoon of the 
 28th, only to find that the bird had flown. 
 
 Let us glance now at the situation on that August 
 morning. Xever was anything more "dramatic." 
 Campaigns are often dull, halting, and inconsequential. 
 
 This one was rapid, fiery, with day linked to day by' 
 great events — the whole tending, as though driven by 
 the Greek Necessity, with her iron wedge, toward the 
 bloody catastrophe. Jackson had advanced from the 
 Eappahannock, as rapid and resistless as some baleful 
 meteor; and the meteor had fallen upon Manassas, 
 the great storehouse of the Federals, and consumed 
 it. Then warned of his danger. Gen. Pope had has- 
 tened back, intent on hurling his great column against 
 the audacious intruder, and crushing him in the very 
 hour of his triumph. He would ''bag the whole 
 crowd," if he could only reach Manassas on the 2Sth. 
 He reached it on the 2Sth, but the game had flown. 
 
 Then, on that morning. Pope was at Manassas; 
 Jackson at Groveton, with his left at Sudley; Lee was 
 advancing toward Thoroughfare Gap with tlie veteran 
 corps of Longstreet ; uuless Pope could crush Jackson 
 before Lee arrived, he must engage the whole Southern 
 aj-my. As to fi'ightening the man of Kernstown, 
 Port Ptepublic, and Cold Harbor into full retreat, that 
 was hopeless. That trained and resolute gladiator ]iad 
 only fallen back far enough to get out of his adver- 
 sary's clutches for the moment; not too far to render 
 possible a junction with Lee, if a little time — only a 
 little time ! — were given him. At bay on the old bat- 
 tle-field of Manassas, the dangerous game awaited the 
 
104 THE SECOND MANASSAS, 
 
 attack of the huntsman, ready to show his teeth, and 
 resist d Voutrance. 
 
 The precious hours hurried on now; eveiy instant 
 counted; the merest novice in war could have told 
 Gen. Pope that the great, the indispensable thing 
 was to interpose a force between Lee and Jackson, hold 
 Thoroughfare Gap, and thus fight the Southern army 
 in detail. But some evil demon seems to have whis- 
 pered in the ear of the Federal commander: "Allow 
 Lee to unite with Jackson ; do not intei-pose," and the 
 advice was followed. The left wing, imder McDowell, 
 had advanced to Gainesville, between Lee and Jack- 
 son, and, on the evening of the 2Sth, it was ordered 
 thence to Manassas. Thoroughfare Gap, which should 
 have been defended at all hazards by a large force, 
 was defended by a division only, and this division re- 
 tired almost as soon as Lee's cannon began to thunder. 
 So trifling was the opposition, that, reaching the gorge 
 at sunset, Longstreet was passing through at nine in 
 the evening ; before noon next day he was coming into 
 position on the right of Jackson. The latter had not 
 yet been attacked; but, as though weary of waiting, 
 he had advanced and taken the initiative. TvTiile 
 standing at bay, Jackson had seen a dust-cloud on his 
 right, and prej^ared for an attack. But suddenly from 
 this dust emerged an ofiicer, coming at full gallop, 
 with the intelligence that the dust was caused by 
 Stuart's cavalry. At the same moment a long line of 
 Federal bayonets was seen on the Warrenton road in 
 front ; Jackson turned to Ewell, who stood near by ; 
 raised his arm aloft ; then, letting it fall with a loud 
 slap upon his Imee, he said, briefly : 
 
TEE SECOJ^D MAMASSAS. 105 
 
 "E^vell, advance!" 
 
 Just as the thunder fi-om Thoroughfare began to 
 roar, Ewell threw forward his line, and attacked with 
 fury the Federal force in front of him. It was King's 
 division, and made a splendid fight. Though assailed 
 in flank, they did not give way, nor did they flinch 
 during the whole engagement. It was only at nine 
 o'clock at night, when the news of the abandonment 
 of Thoroughfare probably reached Gen. King, that 
 the Federal Hnes retired. They had been advancino- 
 toward Stone Bridge; they fell back on Manassast 
 Thus McDowell, Eicketts (at Thoroughfare) and King, 
 had all retired, one after another, upon Manassas. At 
 dawn on the 29th, the golden moment had flitted by ; 
 the gate of destiny had silently turned upon its iron 
 hinge ; Pope was " massed ; " Lee was massed ; it was 
 army against army. The brain of Gen. Pope was to 
 be measured against the brain of Gen. Lee. " 
 
 Jackson had lost his right arm, Ewell— severely 
 wounded in the battle just fought - but the crushing 
 weight of a great anxiety had been lifted fi-om his 
 breast. Lee had arrived ; when that intelligence was 
 brought him, he drew a long breath of relief, and his 
 eyes were raised to heaven in prayer and gratitude. 
 
 All the morning Gen. Longstreet was coming into 
 position ; part of his line of battle was f oraed, indeed, 
 by nine o'clock, and the whole Hne resembled an open 
 y. Jackson's force was the left wing ; Longstreet's 
 the right. At the angle was Groveton, a small assem> 
 blage of houses, near which Stephen D. Lee was in 
 command of about thirty pieces of artillery 
 
106 THE SECOND MANASSAS. 
 
 Longstreet was ready about noon. At five in the 
 evening Gen. Pope did not know of his arrival. 
 
 Does that statement seem absurd, and is it greeted 
 by any reader with incredulous laughter? Proof — 
 Porter was ordered at half -past four to attack the 
 right and rear of Jackson ! " I believe," says Gen. 
 Pope — " in fact, I am positive — that at ^\q, o'clock 
 in the afternoon of the 29th, Gen. Porter had in his 
 fi'ont no considerable body of the enemy. I beheved 
 then, as I am very^ sure now, that it was easily prac- 
 ticable for him to have turned the right flank of Jack- 
 son, and to have fallen upon his rear ; that if he had 
 done so we should have gained a decisive victory over 
 the army under Jackson, before he could have been 
 joined by any of the forces of Longstreet." 
 
 The present writer spoke to Gen. Longstreet, within 
 twenty yards of his line of battle — kneeling on the 
 right knee, finger on trigger — hefore noon. Gen. 
 Pitz John Porter — that stubborn fis^hter on the Penin- 
 sula and at Sharpsbm-g — was tried by court-martial, 
 and dismissed fi*om the service, for not attacking Jack- 
 son's right at five in the evening^ "before he could 
 have been joined by any of the forces of Longstreet," 
 as says Gen. Pope. 
 
 u 
 
 The force of ' party ' could no further go ! " 
 
 "We have traced, perhaps tediously, the steps of the 
 two advei'saries, by which they steadily advanced to 
 the moment and the place of decisive struggle. That 
 narrative, we thought, would interest the thoughtful 
 reader more than a florid series of paragraphs upon the 
 fighting. The movements which we have followed 
 
TEE SECOND MANASSAS. 107 
 
 decided the second battle of Manassas. When Lee 
 had massed his army, the hour of destiny had strack. 
 The defeat of Gen. Pope Tvas merely a question of 
 time and detail. That result might occur thus or thus : 
 it would certainly take place. 
 
 "The histories" will describe in detail the lono-, 
 obstinate, and bloody, but never doubtful conflict. 
 The present writer retires from the domain of that 
 great muse ; it is only some salient points that he beo-s 
 to speak of. And even these may not be understood 
 without a diagram ; for what is plain to those who saw 
 the ground, is the mystery of mysteries to those who 
 have never seen it. 
 
 Let us ascend that hill withm sight of Groveton and 
 look. We are near the Southern centre. Those gray 
 lines, extending toward the left, are Jackson's. In his 
 front is a wood and an unfinished railroad cut, where 
 the adversaries are going to grapple in bitterest conflict 
 — to Are within a few paces of each other — to stab 
 and fence with their bayonets — to seize rocks and hm-l 
 them, breaking each other's skulls. In the centre, . 
 near at hand, are the guns of Stephen Lee— that 
 hardy soldier, and accomplished gentleman — waiting, 
 grim and silent, for the great assault from tlie woods 
 beyond Groveton, which round-shot, shell and canister 
 is going to meet. On the right, stretching far beyond 
 the Warrenton road, is the embattled line of Lono-- 
 street, bristling with bayonets, and flanked with can- 
 non. He is there, though Gen. Pope is telling Porter 
 that he is not — there, firmly rooted, the most stubborn 
 of realities. On the right of Longstreet are the col- 
 
108 THE SECOND MANASSAS. 
 
 umns of Stuart's cavalry, held in hand for the pursuit, 
 the men sitting or standing by their horses. 
 
 Riding slowly to and fro along the lines are two or 
 three figures, whose appearance the troops greet with 
 shouts. 
 
 One is that of a man of about thirty-eight, in a 
 dingy old coat and faded cap, who rides w^ith his knees 
 drawn up, and raises his chin to look from beneath his 
 cap rim, rarely speaking, apparently sunk in deep rev 
 ery. That is Jackson. 
 
 Another is portly, athletic, with a long brown beard 
 and mustache, half covering the broad, calm face, 
 which habitually smiles — a man apparently of invin- 
 cible coolness, almost apathetic-looking, but notable. 
 That is Longstreet, Lee's " Old War-Horse" — a man 
 to count on when hard and stubborn fighting is neces- 
 sary — when to spring like the tiger and never let go, 
 like the bull-dog, is the order of the day. 
 
 A third is the gay cavalier yonder, with the heavy 
 mustache, the laughing blue eyes, the gauntleted hand 
 stroking the heavy beard, the lofty forehead, sur- 
 mounted by the plumed hat, the tall cavalry boots and 
 the rattling sabre. That is Stuart. 
 
 Of Jackson, Lee will say when he falls, " I have lost 
 my right arm." 
 
 Of Stuart, " I can scarcely think of him without 
 weeping." 
 
 When he pai'ts with Longstreet, his " Old War- 
 Horse," at Appomattox, there will be tears in the eyes 
 of each of them, as they remember all those glorious 
 encounters, one of which we are now essaying to des- 
 cribe. 
 
THE SECOND MANASSAS. 109 
 
 We have looked at the Southern lines, on the Grove- 
 ton heights — the gray-backs lying down in a crescent- 
 shaped order of battle, and ready ; but we have forgot- 
 ten the Federal line, as the laughing " rebels " appear 
 to have done. It is a crescent too, with artilleiy on 
 every knoll, cavalry ready at every opening. The 
 bristling bayonets of the great host curve round, fol- 
 lowing the formation of the Southern line. The two 
 crescents will not fit into each other without the 
 cement of blood. 
 
 Gen. Pope attacked in the afternoon, and his first 
 movement was resolute. He threw his right against 
 Jackson's left ; a wedge of Federal bayonets pierced a 
 gap in A. P. Hill's line, and the extreme left of the 
 Confederate army seemed about to be annihilated. 
 Hard fighting only saved it ; the enemy were repulsed, 
 and when they attacked again with fury, they were 
 again driven back. Gen. McGowan reported that 
 '' the opposing forces at one time delivered their vol- 
 leys into each other at a distance of ten paces," and 
 Hill stated that his division repulsed " six separate and 
 distinct assaults." 
 
 This attack was made by Gen. Kearney, one of the 
 bravest and most accomplished officers of the Federal 
 army. It nearly crushed Hill, but reinforcements ena- 
 bled him to hold his ground, and at night Kearney 
 retired. Thus terminated the first day's operations ; 
 the railroad cut was full of dead and wounded, riddled 
 with bullets, pierced with bayonets, and torn by shell, 
 but both lines retired. 
 
 The dawn of Saturday, the 30th of August, foimd 
 the adversaries still face to face. Gen. Pope had de- 
 10 
 
110 TEE SECOND MANASSAS. 
 
 termined to remain and figlit it out, tlioiigli, by retiring 
 to Centreville, he would have united with Franklin and 
 Sumner, coming fi'om Alexandria, been nearer his base, 
 
 — that is to say, his rations, — and would have occu- 
 pied a position greatly stronger than at Groveton. 
 
 But the evil fate of the Federal commander drove 
 him on, and blinded him. On the 30th, incredible as 
 it may appear, he seems not to have Tcnown of the pres- 
 ence of Longstreet^ and he still cherished the hope of 
 crushing Jackson. An attack in force was accordingly 
 directed against the Confederate left and centre, and 
 the second battle of Manassas, about three in the after- 
 noon, commenced in all its fury. 
 
 It was one of the most desperate of the war, and one 
 of the bloodiest. The Lieutenants of Gen. Pope were 
 abler than their commander, and, if his own country- 
 men are authority, possessed more military nerve. They 
 attacked with a gallantry which more than once threat- 
 ened to sweep before it the Confederate line of battle ; 
 and, in charge after charge, in the face of frightful 
 volleys of small arms and artillery, essayed to break 
 through the bristling hedge of bayonets before them. 
 The assault upon the Confederate centre was desperate. 
 To this, the attention of the present writer was particu- 
 larly called. 
 
 The charge was made from Groveton, right in the 
 
 * " A wounded Confederate soldier .... reported tliat he had 
 heard his comrades say that ' Jackson was retiring to unite with 
 Longstreet.' .... Pope, who had not that day been to the front, 
 accepted the story as indicating a real falling back, and telegraphed 
 to Washington that the enemy was ' retreating to the mountains.' " 
 
 — Mr. SwintorCs Army of tTie Potomac, p. 188. 
 
THE SECOND MANASSAS. " 111 
 
 face of Steplien D. Lee's artillery, and appeared to be 
 in column of brigades. The fii'st brigade advanced at 
 a double-quick from the woods, so admirably dressed, 
 that the half -bent knees of the men moved in a line 
 as perfect as on parade. Before, however, they had 
 reached the centre of the open field in fi-ont, thirty 
 pieces of artillery opened upon them ; the air was filled 
 with shell, bursting in front, above, on the riglit, on the 
 left of them ; great gaps appeared ; the line wavered, 
 then broke, then it disappeared, a mere mass of fugi- 
 tives, in the woods. In ten minutes, however, a second 
 brigade appeared, advanced at a double-quick, like the 
 first, and was in like manner torn to pieces by the 
 frightful fire, disappearing, like the first, beneath the 
 protecting shadows of the woods. A third charge was 
 made ; a third and more bloody repulse succeeded ; 
 then the great field between the adversaries suddenly 
 swarmed with Jackson's men, rushing forward in the 
 wildest disorder — without pretence of a line, and 
 " every man for himself " toward the enemy. 
 
 For a few moments the field thus presented a specta- 
 cle of apparent disorganization, which would have made 
 a European officer tremble. Then suddenly all changed. 
 As the men drew near the enemy, they checked their 
 headlong speed ; those in front stopped, those in rear 
 closed up ; the lines were dressed as straight as an arrow, 
 with the battle-flags rippling as they moved ; cheers 
 resounded,, and the regiments entered the woods, from 
 which rose the long, continuous crash of musketry, as 
 the opposing lines came together. 
 
 That was late in the evening, and the Federal forces 
 
112 TEE SECO^^D MAKASSAS. 
 
 never made another charge. On the contrary, the Con- 
 federate lines everywhere advanced. 
 
 Longstreet swept steadily round, closing in, with his 
 inexorable grip, upon the enemy's left, toward the Henry 
 House hill. Jackson's whole command advanced. Xight 
 descended upon a last infuriate grapple of infantry, 
 clash of cavalry, and duel of artillery, amid which it 
 was easy to distinguish those tumultuous Confederate 
 cheers, whose resounding echoes had, on many battle- 
 fields, announced the hard-won ^-ictorv. 
 
 Gen. Pope was defeated ; his cannon glared in the 
 dark fi*om the Henry House hill, and near the Old 
 Stone House; then night swallowed the great scene 
 of wounds and death. Gen. Pope retreated in the 
 darkness to Centreville, whence he speedily continued 
 bis withdi-awal to Washington. 
 
 This was Saturday. It was on Monday that Gen. 
 McClellan telegraphed fi-om Alexandria : 
 
 *' This week is the crisis of om- fate." 
 
 Such was the great '• Second Battle of Manassas," 
 and it possesses an interest of its own, a strange char- 
 acter separating it fi'om almost all other conflicts. 
 Few events in the annals of war exceed it in that 
 singularly dramatic character which the locality gave 
 it. In July, 1861, Jackson's brigade had here decided 
 the issue of a great battle. Xow, in August, 1862, 
 the same commander had grappled with the old adver- 
 sary, upon almost the very same ground, — almost, but 
 not quite, — for the opponents had changed sides. Hun- 
 ter had fought Evans and Bee with his back to Sudley; 
 it was Jackson now who held that position. Johnston 
 and Beauregard had assailed, in old days, fi*om the 
 
TBE SECOND MANASSAS. 113 
 
 direction of Manassas ; it was now Pope who had his 
 base there — a shifting base, soon to be transferred, as 
 we have seen, to Alexandria ! 
 
 And all those old familiar objects made a singular 
 impression upon the minds of the soldiers — at feast, 
 the wi'iter, who saw the fight, can speak for himself. 
 Before him lies a leaf with these lines in pencil — 
 written on the night of the battle : " Strange, passing 
 strange ! Yonder, a mile or two away, is the ground 
 where Evans commenced the ' battle of the 21st.' A 
 dispatch, just arrived, says ^Jackson is at the Stone 
 House' — we sleep upon the soil, bathed a year ago in 
 Southern blood." 
 
 "Batteries were planted and captured yesterday," 
 said a writer, " where they were planted and captured 
 last year. The pine thicket, where the Fourth Alabama 
 and the Eighth Georgia suffered so terribly in the first 
 battle, is now strewn with the slain of the invader. 
 We charged through the same woods yesterday, though 
 from a different pomt, where Kirby Smith, the Blucher 
 of the day, entered the %ht before." 
 
 Thus this bloody action had come to add additional 
 shadows to the already weird and sombre fields of Ma- 
 nassas. Again the Federal power was broken ; a second 
 time the banks of this stream, once so insignificant, 
 were baptized with the blood of battle. 
 
 There are spots on the world's surface over which 
 seem to lower huge, shadowy figures, uttering lugubri- 
 ous groans, which the winds bear away, and pointing, 
 with distended eyes, and arms in sable drapery, to the 
 yawning graves which curse the beautiful face of 
 
 nature. Manassas and Cold Harbor are among these 
 10* 
 
114 TEE SECOND MANASSAS. 
 
 places, and tliere hover a double troop of sombre shad- 
 ows ; for here men have twice met in mortal grapple 
 — here the graves are double in number ; so thick are 
 they, that you tread on them. 
 
 You tread on few flowers ; hear the sigh of the wind 
 in the leaves of few trees ; rarely the birds of spring 
 sino: there, and the sunshine itself seems sad. 
 
 These spots, with Gettysburg, are the three Golgo- 
 thas of the Western World. 
 
V. 
 
 SHAEPSBUEG. 
 
 SnAEPSBiiRa was the first and last great battle on the 
 Boil of Maryland. In the hours of one September day 
 was decided the fate of Baltimore and Washino-ton. 
 Tactically a drawn battle, it was strategically a Con- 
 federate defeat. Add to these notable features the 
 further circumstance that it was the last fight of Mc- 
 Clellan.. That onght, of itself, to make it interesting. 
 
 Let ns follow the steps of the two athletes who had 
 already crossed swords on the banks of the Chickahom- 
 iny, and who now advanced to a final trial of each 
 other's muscle on the soil of Maryland. These hardy 
 adversaries were Lee, commanding the Army of North- 
 ern Yirginia, and McClellan, commanding the Ai*my 
 of the Potomac. 
 
 On the last day of August, the fate of Gen. Pope 
 had been decided. His shattered battalions had re- 
 treated from the fields of Manassas, and Lee pressed 
 on to complete the victory which had cost him so much 
 blood. Gen. Pope had but one ambition now — to save 
 the remnant of his army, — and to this work he sedu- 
 lously addressed himself, on Monday, the 1st of Sep- 
 tember, by doing what he ought to have done before 
 
 (115) 
 
116 SHARPSBUBQ. 
 
 delivering battle — utilizing, that is to say, the troops 
 of Sumner and Franklin. 
 
 These had pushed out as rapidly as possible from 
 Alexandria, and now, on this 1st of September, were 
 at Germantown — a small village a mile or two west 
 of Faii'fax Court House. Here line of battle was 
 formed, with the right at Germantown, and the left 
 toward Centreville, and the troops were hardly in posi- 
 tion when the men of Jackson were seen advancing by 
 the Little River turnpike. 
 
 Their commander was worn out, and had sat down 
 under a tree, leaned his back against the trunk, folded 
 his hands across his breast, and was asleep. The crack 
 of the skirmishers awoke him soon ; he rose, mounted 
 his horse, and in fifteen minutes was at the head of his 
 column, then advancing upon the enemy. 
 
 This battle was a strange one. No sooner had the 
 artillery begun to roar, than, as if in response, the 
 heavens echoed it. The cheers of the men were re- 
 sponded to by the rushing sound of a great wind in 
 the trees ; the glare of the cannon, by dazzling flashes 
 of lightning ; the thunder of the guns, by crash after 
 crash fi'om the black and lowering clouds. In the 
 midst of this conflict of the elements, the human con- 
 flict commenced, and the huge torrents of rain, which 
 soon began to fall, seemed the protest of the inanimate 
 world against this revel of man's passions. So hea^-y 
 was the rain, that one of Jackson's commanders sent 
 him word that the powder of the men could not be 
 kept dry ; he would soon be compelled to abandon his 
 position. But that thing of abandoning a position 
 rarely suited Jackson. 
 
SHARPSBURG. 117 
 
 " Tell liim to hold his ground," he said, in brief ac- 
 cents, to the messenger ; " if his guns will not go off, 
 neither will the enemy's ! " 
 
 And the line remained firm; the enemy made no 
 headway, and yet they fought well. They were fresh, 
 and commanded by the brave Keai-ney and others. 
 This day was to be the last of the old foe of Fremont. 
 Kearney rushed forward to rally liis lines, mistook a 
 Confederate party for his o^Yn men, turned and gal- 
 loped away ; but a bullet overtook him. 
 
 On the next morning I was riding along the turn- 
 pike, and saw a crowd gathering at a small house by 
 the wayside. 
 
 "What are those men looking at?" I inquired of a 
 soldier. 
 
 "At the body of Gen. Kearney, which Gen. Lee 
 is just going to send, with a flag of truce, to his 
 friends." 
 
 After the fall of this gallant soldier, the enemy did 
 not continue the contest with much ardor. At ni^ht 
 they still were there, in the dark and dripping woods, 
 which the storm lashed as before ; at dawn they had 
 disappeared. Behind that friendly rampart, covering 
 the Warrenton road to Centreville, Gen. Pope had 
 retreated. At sunrise Stuart's cavalry rushed with 
 cheers into Fairfax, but the Federal columns were as 
 far as Annandale. In the debris — guns, oilcloth, and 
 knapsacks — scattered along the road, you read plainly, 
 " Exit Pope." 
 
 And now the unskilled soldiers, on that 2d of Sep- 
 tember, 1862, thought "We are going straight to 
 Washington." Ko less a personage than Jackson 
 
118 SffABPSBUBO. 
 
 seemed to encourage this idea. Sitting his horse on 
 the Oxhill ridge, surrounded by the cui'ious, he said 
 briefly to an officer : 
 
 " What roads lead to Yienna and ? " 
 
 The latter words were spoken too low to be caught. 
 Eeceiving a reply, he nodded, reflected an instant, and 
 then rode away. Taking the head of his column, he 
 pushed on — toward Leesburg. Leesburg meant not 
 Washington, but the Cumberland Yalley. 
 
 Gen. Lee had, it seems, determined to enter Mary- 
 land above, and fight his second battle in Pennsyl- 
 yania. 
 
 No time was lost. The men were worn to exhaus- 
 tion by the heavy marcliing and fighting, without 
 rations, of the last few weeks ; but there was no time 
 to pause. Before the smoke had drifted away from 
 the great field of conflict, the column was in motion ; 
 in three days, it passed the Potomac at Leesburg — 
 the men cheering, and the bands playing "Maryland, 
 my Maryland ! " On the Tth of September, Lee had 
 massed his army in the vicinity of Frederick City. 
 
 Disappointment awaited here those confiding gray 
 people, who supposed that the Marylanders would rush 
 to arms. Most of them rushed into their houses, and 
 slammed the doors. The " rebels " were regarded not 
 as friends, but enemies. The inhabitants were 
 " Union," and will doubtless take pride in the state- 
 ment here made, that, as soon as they found they had 
 nothijig to fear, they exhibited immistakable hostility. 
 Those fears, indeed, speedily vanished. They dis- 
 covered that in Gen. Lee they had to deal with a 
 gentleman, and a "Chiistian warrior" — a commander 
 
SEABP8BUBG. 119 
 
 of the strictest ideas. A sneering^ journal, indeed, said, 
 " If Gen. Lee saw the top rail of a fence pulled off, 
 as he passed by, he would dismount and replace it with 
 his own hands." The result was simple, as the logic 
 was obvious. A man who would put back the rails of 
 a fence was not apt to bm^n dwellings, and plunder 
 larders a la Pope. Consequent defiance of him, and 
 more resolute adherence than before to "the best 
 government the world ever saw." The general senti- 
 ment, " Wait, wearers of the gray ! The patriots in 
 blue are coming ! " 
 
 These statements may seem strange to some readers. 
 
 " Can it be possible," they may say, " that Lee was 
 so greeted on that soil — thus received in the great and 
 illustrious Commonwealth of Marvland, where, in 
 
 V 7 7 
 
 Baltimore — the elegant, the aristocratic, the defiant 
 Baltimore — a large Federal force could alone hold 
 down the almost irrepressible sympathy with the 
 South ; where, in the lower counties, the gentlemen 
 throughout the war denounced the Xorth, and cheered 
 the South, in the most public places ? Could Mary- 
 land have thus acted — Maryland, the proud, the 
 thorough-bred, the bitterly Southern Maryland, who 
 had sent her heroic sons to bleed for Yirginia — 
 smuggled medicines, cloths, and words of cheer, 
 through the blockade — prayed, with sobs and tears, 
 for the Southern success — whose very women and girls 
 turned away with scorn /in their faces, drawing their 
 skirts close to their persons, when Federal officers 
 passed, that they might not be soiled by the contact ? " 
 The explanation is simple. The Southern troops 
 were in Maryland, and they were not in Maryland. 
 
120 ' SHABPSBURO. 
 
 The population differed here, as in Tidewater and 
 IS'orth-western V^irginia. Lord Baltimore settled east- 
 ern, William Penn western Maryland. That is to say, 
 that eastern Maryland was English — which is "Vir- 
 ginian — western Maiyland Pennsylvanian, that is 
 northern. That explains the whole. 
 
 And yet there were some, even here, whose whole 
 hearts went forth to meet and greet the Red Cross flag. 
 In locked-up rooms ladies sewed day and night for the 
 ragged soldiers. In many houses Confederate flags 
 were ready to be produced. From some houses white 
 handkerchiefs were waved — fi'om a few, cheers were 
 heard. Let us not blame very bitterly the owners of 
 these flags, which were never unfolded and given to 
 the air. The " blue patriots " were coming, and the 
 Union neighbors of the Southern sympathizers were 
 sure to denounce them to the Federal vengeance. 
 Hearts were warm, but life and property were dear. 
 It is hard to expect that husbands and fathers should 
 bring beggary and exile on wife and children for any 
 cause. So those flags were never waved, or waved 
 timidly for an instant, and then quietly withdrawn. 
 The stormy winds of that reign of terror blew them 
 away. 
 
 On the day after his arrival at Frederick City, Gen. 
 Lee issued an address to the people of Maiyland. 
 That calm and admirable paper will present a terrible 
 contrast in history, to the brutal " expatriation order " 
 of Gen. Pope in Culpeper, which the very authorities 
 at Washington had to disown. Lee declared to the 
 people that he had come to aid them " in regaining 
 the rights of which they had been despoiled," but no 
 
SEARPSBURO. 121 
 
 new tyranny would be imposed — no citizen coerced 
 by martial law; to each and all would be accorded the 
 right " to decide his destiny freely, and without con- 
 straint." 
 
 When that paper was made public, a few cheers 
 arose, a few halloos resounded ; then followed an omi- 
 nous silence. No enthusiasm was exhibited — only a 
 few recruits appeared — it was obvious that the dream 
 of thousands rushing to the Southern flag was a com- 
 plete hallucination. 
 
 If the result disappointed the great commander of 
 the Confederates, he did not show it. -That invincible 
 calmness which characterized him never changed. He 
 knew what he could depend upon, and to that he 
 turned— his old Army of Northern Virginia. 
 
 And yet only about one-half of that army was at his 
 orders, a fact which it is absolutely essential to remem- 
 ber in following the events which we are about to re- 
 cord. That is the key-note, and we beg that it will be 
 kept in view. Nearly half of Lee's army was still limp- 
 ing along, barefooted and exhausted, far in rear, on the 
 Virginia side. Not once, but a hundred times, has the 
 statement been made, that these men were stragglers, 
 intending desertion. That statement is an injustice to 
 the brave soldiers of the army. The immense marches 
 and desperate combats of the last month had ex- 
 hausted them. Barefooted, in rags, unfed, worn out, 
 they dragged their feet along, trying to keep up. And 
 they would have arrived, but for one circumstance. 
 McClellan's rapid advance uncovered the fords near 
 Leesburg ; crossing these, the " stragglers " would have 
 found McClellan, not Lee. In fact. Gen. Lee issued 
 11 
 
122 SEARPSBURG. 
 
 an order forbidding it, and thus these twenty thousand 
 or more unfortunate, not criminal, men, who filled the 
 fields of Loudoun, or crouched on the heights near 
 Leesburg, were pointed at and stigmatized as strag- 
 glers. 
 
 So it then appeared; and their stronger comrades 
 even, who had been able to keep up, joined in the 
 statement. But time sets everything right. The 
 causes of the larger part of that " straggling " are now 
 knovm. It was hunger, exliaustion, bleeding feet, and 
 wounds which prevented the majority of those men 
 from being present at the bitter wrestle of Sharps- 
 
 bm-g. 
 
 • Lee was left with about forty thousand men, of all 
 arms, to oppose McClellan's one hundred thousand, 
 then advancing. 
 
 The marshalling of that army was one of the most 
 marvellous phenomena of the war. On the 1st day of 
 September, Gen. Pope was defeated — his forces disor- 
 ganized and demoralized beyond the power of words 
 — and the Government at Washington was looking 
 eveiy moment for the coming of Lee, as it had looked 
 after the Manassas of July, 1861, for the coming of 
 Johnston. 
 
 Twelve days afterwards McClellan was at Frederick 
 City with a force of nearly one hundred thousand 
 men, and was pushing after Lee, who was retiring. 
 
 Eead the Federal documents relating to that period, 
 and see what was thought of McClellan in reality. 
 
 They thwarted him, denounced him, professed to 
 despise him, and removed him, to put Pope in his 
 place ; but, when the dark hour came, they cried, " Pro- 
 
SEAEPSBURG. 123 
 
 tect the capital ! — you only can do it ! " It was true 
 that the ax-e of the headsman was being sharpened even 
 then for him. When he had perfected the great crime 
 of defeating Lee, his head was to roll, and a voice was 
 to cry aloud fi*om the Bureau of War — a voice mar- 
 vellously resembling that of Maj. Gen. Halleck: 
 
 " So perish all who oppose onr policy ! " 
 
 Meanwhile, however, tlie services of the skilful sol- 
 dier were needed — were indispensable. The country 
 confided in him. The troops adored him. He sum- 
 moned the men to return to their standards; they 
 obeyed him with alacrity; he took the head of the 
 army, and advanced upon Lee. To have believed on 
 the 1st of September that this was possible, would 
 have been to fall into the fantastic. In a week the 
 world had only to look and see. McClellan had imder 
 him nearly one hundred thousand troops, and without 
 a scrap of orders- beyond " Protect the capital," be- 
 gan an offensive campaign in the direction of Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 On the 12th, as we have said, he had reached Fred- 
 erick City. His advance had struck Lee's rear — the 
 adversaries were in view of each other — the thunders 
 of battle again resounded. 
 
 Lee had fallen back from Frederick, and his gray 
 columns were defiling through the passes of the Catoc- 
 tan and South Mountains. What did he design ? 
 Were those ragged Southerners, tramping on gayly, 
 with their bright muskets, and exclaiming '• Pennsyl- 
 vania ! Pennsylvania ! " as they had exclaimed " Mary- 
 
 * See his examination before the Committee on the Conduct of 
 the War. 
 
124 SRABPSBURG. 
 
 land! Maryland!" — were the veterans of the old 
 army deceived in their anticipations, and had Lee 
 brought them thither only, as some said, to capture 
 Harper's Ferry? The thing was incredible, and re- 
 mains incredible to-dav. Little doubt exists now that 
 his object then, in September, 1862, was the same as 
 in June, 1863 — namely, to advance into Pennsylvania, 
 keeping open his communications by the Shenandoah 
 Yalley — draw the Federal army as far as possible 
 from its base, bring on a battle, defeat and pursue his 
 opponent, and dictate peace at Baltimore or Washing- 
 ton. 
 
 Gen. Lee may have failed, sometimes, to make the 
 best movements during the progress of a battle ; he 
 never failed to adopt the greatest, soundest, and most 
 comprehensive combinations to bring on battle. Both 
 in 1862 and 1863, he failed to accomplish his object. 
 But, study those campaigns, and the causes of these 
 failures will be seen. It was not that the profound 
 brain of Lee erred — Providence interposed, and de- 
 feated him. 
 
 His plan now was, first to reduce Harper's Ferry, 
 which was held by eleven thousand men, with seventy- 
 three pieces of artillery ; «and Jackson had been already 
 Bent thither, by way of Boonsboro,' Williamsport, and 
 Marthisburg — ■ thus taking the Ferry in rear. As soon 
 as this hornet's nest was destroyed, he was to push on 
 and join Longstreet, in the vicinity of Hagerstown ; 
 then the whole army, massed, would commence moving 
 toward the Cumberland Yalley, drawiag McClellan 
 toward Westminster and Gettysbm-g, as Meade was 
 drawn thither in the month of June, 1863. 
 
SHAMPSBURQ. 125 
 
 Let us turn now to a circumstance so trifling that 
 it seems insignificant, but which overthrew the w^hole 
 campaign of Lee. 
 
 Up to the 12th of September, when McClellan 
 reached Frederick, that commander had moved at 
 the gait of the tortoise. Cautious and deliberate by 
 organization, he was rendered still more cautious and 
 deliberate upon this occasion by the telegrams of his 
 superiors, who wrote constantly, "Take care — you are 
 going too fast — keep nearer the Potomac — Lee is 
 drawing you on — only a small part of his army is 
 north of the Potomac ; and, as soon as you are far 
 enough away from the capital, he will attack us from 
 the Virginia side, and all will be over." Those are 
 not the words employed by Gen. Halleck, but they ex- 
 press the exact substance of his orders. 
 
 Thus, up to the 12th, McClellan moved snailwise, 
 feeling for Lee, and in utter darkness as to his plans. 
 On that day, however, he found upon a table in Fred- 
 erick City, where it had been left by the carelessness 
 of some ofiicer. General Lee's " Order of March." That 
 order was a complete revelation of Lee's designs. 
 
 Longstreet was to advance by way of Boonsboro,' to 
 Hagerstown. 
 
 McLaws was to push for Maryland Heights. 
 
 Walker was to cross back, and hasten to Loudoun 
 Heights. 
 
 Jackson was then to storm and capture Harper's 
 Ferry, hastening afterwards to join Longstreet. 
 
 Then, the order stopped there. Nothing more, 
 
 however, was necessary. Then, Lee's army would ad- 
 vance upon Pennsylvania. 
 11* 
 
126 SHAJRPSBURQ. 
 
 Such were the revelations of the Confederate cam- 
 paign, given in that document. That poor little sheet 
 of paper, which a puff of wind would have carried 
 away, — which a housewife might have used to kindle 
 her fire, — a soldier to light his pipe, — that little scrap 
 of paper would have been cheaply purchased by the 
 Federal commander at a cost of a hundred millions, 
 and it cost nothing. It is true that it cost Lee his 
 campaign. 
 
 From that moment, Gen. McClellan had "^no longer 
 any fears. He could act ^ith energy, for he knew 
 what he was doing. Before, he had advanced with 
 caution, because every step might lose the capital ; now 
 he pushed on with vigor, because Pennsylvania was the 
 known object of his opponent. Every card in the hand 
 of Lee was known ; his whole game exposed ; his com- 
 binations defeated in advance. Unless the fighting of 
 the Southern ai'my changed the result, the campaign 
 was as good as decided. 
 
 The obvious policy of McClellan was to push vigo- 
 rously forward, break through the passes of South 
 Mountain, relieve Harper's Ferry, and attack Lee while 
 his army was di\ided into two parts. He set about his 
 task with rapidity and energy ; that he did not succeed 
 was not his fault. Human nerve conquers fate some- 
 times; hard fighting more than makes up for num- 
 bers. McClellan ought to have forced the mountain 
 passes on the 13th. He could not do so until the 11th. 
 He ought to have cut Lee to pieces before Jackson ar- 
 rived. He could not come up with him. He ought to 
 have routed the Southern army on the field of Sharps- 
 burg, — and that fight, thi'ee to one, was the clearest 
 
SRABPSBURQ. 127 
 
 drawn battle of history. The nerve of the Confeder- 
 ates more than made up for numbers. We shall prove 
 that. 
 
 On the 14th of September the great game of chess 
 had commenced in earnest. From that time forward 
 every hour was to be big with events : every movement 
 of the adversaries counted. McClellan was pushing 
 after Lee, intent on relieving Harper's Ferry, and cut- 
 ting his great opponent to pieces. The hard and stub- 
 born muscle of the Virginian had tm-ned many a 
 sword's edge, — but it seemed that at last the weapon 
 was heav;)^ and sharp enougli to accomplish its object, 
 — "to cut even to the dividing asimder of the joints 
 and marrow." 
 
 In utter ignorance, meanwhile, of the great misfor- 
 tune which had befallen him. Gen. Lee was pressing 
 forward to the execution of his plans, wondering doubt- 
 less at the unwonted confidence of his adversary, but 
 expecting to catch him tripping before long. The Con- 
 federates were in excellent spirits ; jest and laughter 
 prevailed. The cavalry were engaged near Frederick ; 
 where Hampton charged and captured a battery, but 
 the infantry were marching quietly, caring little. 
 
 On the evening of the 14th, Lee's " Order of March" 
 was in full process of accomplishment. Longstreet was 
 at Hagerstown with the advance force of the army. 
 D. H. Hill was holding the gap near Boonsboro', and 
 a small force was at Crampton's ; Walker was on Lou- 
 doun, and McLaws on Maryland Heights; Jackson 
 was south of Harper's Ferry, and would attack it at 
 early dawn. Unless relieved that night, good-bye to 
 
128 SHAMPSBURQ. 
 
 Harper's Ferry, its eleven thousand men and seventy- 
 three cannon. 
 
 Then began the struggle. McClellan thundered in 
 front of Boonsboro' and Crampton's gaps, listening 
 anxiously for the cannon of Jackson. At every step 
 of his advance — which the cavalry, under Stuart, ob- 
 stinately opposed — the Federal commander fired signal 
 guns, which said to the ofiicer commanding at Harper's 
 Feriy : " I am coming ! " Every hour he dispatched 
 scouts to penetrate the lines, reach the Ferry, and 
 say : " Hold on ; do not surrender ; I will soon release 
 you ! " 
 
 That assurance seemed reliable. The enormous ad- 
 vantage of knowing an adversary's plans and position 
 was never in all the annals of war better shown. With 
 Longstreet at Hagerstown and Jackson at Harper's 
 Ferry, McClellan knew well that his movements were 
 free, — and he pressed on with ardor to attain the prize. 
 
 Soon the thunders of an obstinate combat rose from 
 Boonsboro' gap, where Hooker attacked Hill, suc- 
 ceeded in turning his flank, and at nightfall had vir- 
 tual possession of the gap — for which the worthy Gen. 
 Heno and fifteen hundred men, however, paid. At 
 the same time an engagement took place at Cramp- 
 ton's gap, nearer to the Potomac, with the same object 
 
 — to l3reak through to the succor of Harper's Ferry. 
 Boonsboro' was a combat — division against division 
 
 — the fight at Crampton's was a fiasco. Federal 
 writers tell how Gen. Franklin's corps, with Slocum's 
 division on the ris^ht and Smith's division on the 
 left, attacked " a greatly superior force of Confeder- 
 ates in the pass, forced them up the slope, and after 
 
SHABPSBURG. . 129 
 
 three hours' hard contest carried the crest, taking four 
 hundred prisoners." The "greatly superior force" 
 thus assailed by two divisions was Colonel Tom Mun- 
 f ord, with about two hundred dismounted cavalry, and 
 one piece of artillery. When the three brigades of 
 General Cobb — all the infantry that at any time was 
 any where near the gap — arrived from Maryland 
 Heights, the crest had been carried, and Colonel Mun- 
 ford was moving down the west side of the mountain. 
 The enemy held the gap — General Cobb's troops were 
 badly put in, and made little fight — the "four hun- 
 dred prisoners" were of his command. The facts 
 stated here are surprising — but they are facts. The 
 reports of Gen. Stuart will establish them. Two hun- 
 dred men held in check two divisions. 
 
 When night fell on the 14:th, McClellan had broken 
 through the moantain — or, to, speak more accurately, 
 he held the gaps at Boonsboro' and Crampton's, ready 
 to march at dawn. At dawn he marched ; but sud- 
 denly a long continuous thunder arose from Harper's 
 Feriy. Jackson was attacking. 
 
 McClellan pushed forward; the ominous roar of 
 artillery continued without cessation. Then all at 
 once it stopped — for Jackson was preparing to storm 
 the works with his infantry. That silence was worse 
 than the thunder of the cannon, and the Federal com- 
 mander must have comprehended its meanino-. In 
 fact Jackson had" thrown forward Pender — the assault 
 had just begim — the men were rushing on with shouts 
 to carry the Federal defences at the point of the bay- 
 onet — when all at once a white flag was seen to flut- 
 ter upon the breastworks. Colonel Miles had surren- 
 
130 SHABPSBURG, 
 
 dered his eleven thousand men, thirteen thousand 
 stand of arms, and seventy-three pieces of artillery. 
 
 Harper's Ferry had fallen. 
 
 Fallen at the moment when McClellau was only a 
 short march from it, with almost nothing between — 
 at the moment when Miles could almost hear the 
 shouts of the troops coming to his relief ; when in a 
 few hours McLaws, on Maryland Heights, would have 
 been captured ; Jackson would have been cut off from 
 a junction with the main body, and Lee would have 
 been defeated or driven across the Potomac. 
 
 At that supreme moment, when victory and failure 
 were suspended in the balance, the heavy arm of Jack- 
 son fell. " Too late " was written, as in words of 
 flame, asrainst the Southern sky, toward which the 
 Federal commander gazed. Soon he knew that his 
 second and greatest aim was in like manner defeated. 
 
 Lee had fallen back ^vith Hill, by way of Boons- 
 boro', toward Sharpsburg ; Longstreet was summoned 
 to the same point from Hagerstown. 
 
 On the morning of the 16th, when McClellan, push- 
 ing forward, had reached the Antietam, opposite 
 Sharpsburg, he had, there in front of him, on the 
 hills beyond the stream, both Longstreet and Jackson 
 — retm'ned from Hagerstown and Harpei''s Ferry. 
 The two halves of the army were once more united. 
 Lee was massed and ready to deliver battle. 
 
 Such were the strategic movements which culmin- 
 ated in the obstinately disputed battle of Sharpsburg, 
 or Antietam, as it is called by writers of the ^orth. 
 They have been noticed at some length, being essen- 
 tial to a proper understanding of the action. 
 
SHABPSBURG. 131 
 
 Harper's Ferry had retarded Lee, since he could not 
 leave that fortress in his rear; McClellan had ad- 
 vanced with nnexpected rapidity ; thus Lee was com- 
 pelled to retire to Virginia or mass his army and ac- 
 cept battle on the north bank of the Potomac. 
 
 What force did that army number, and what were 
 tlie numbers of General McClellan ? Alas ! little is 
 left to the South save to show that she made a " good 
 light " and died hard ! Let us pause for a moment, 
 then, and establish the truth upon this point. It is 
 curious. 
 
 " We fought pretty close upon one hundred thous- 
 and men," said Gen McClellan, when interrogated by 
 the War Committee. 
 
 " This great battle was fought by less than forty 
 ihousaiid men on our side," said Lee, in his report ; 
 and Colonel Walter H. Taylor, that high-toned officer 
 and gentleman, then A. A. G. of the army, states Lee's 
 numbers at thirty-seven thousand of all arms."^ 
 
 What were Gen. McClellan's ? 
 
 " Our forces," he says, " at the battle of Antietam 
 w^ere, total in action, eighty-seven thousand one hun- 
 dred and sixty-four." 
 
 Deduct " cavalry division, four thousand three hun- 
 
 ? 
 
 ■¥ u 
 
 Our Strength at Sharpsburg. — I think this is correct : 
 
 Jackson (including A. P, Hill) 10,000 
 
 Longstreet 12,000 
 
 D. H. Hill and Walker 7,000 
 
 Effective infantry 29 000 
 
 Cavalry and artillery 8,000 
 
 37,000 
 — MS. Statement of Colonel Taylor. 
 
132 • SHARPSBURO, 
 
 dred and twenty," and we have eiglity-two thousand 
 eight hundred and fourtj-four Federal infantry and 
 artillery in action. 
 
 Deduct four thousand cavalry fi'om Gen. Lee's total, 
 and we have Confederate infantry and artillery in ac- 
 tion, thirty-three thousand. 
 
 Of these thirty-three thousand, about eight thousand 
 did not arrive from Harper's Feriy until the naiddle 
 of the day. The hard fighting of the whole morning 
 was really borne by about twenty-five thousand in line 
 of battle. 
 
 More still — the main assault was against the Con- 
 federate left., where Jackson, with four thousand, met 
 and repulsed forty thousand. 
 
 Proof. — G-en. Jones, commanding Jackson's old division, report- 
 ed: — " The division, at the beginning of the fight, numbered not 
 over one thousand six hundred men. " 
 
 And Early, commanding Ewell's division of three brigades, 
 reported : 
 
 Lawton's 1,150 
 
 Hayes' 550 
 
 Walker's 700 
 
 2,400 
 1,600 
 
 Total 4, 000 
 
 On the Federal side it is not denied that Hooker's corps num- 
 bered eighteen thousand. At 7 A. M. , Mansfield reinforced him, 
 and at 9, Sumner. Of the fight which ensued. Gen. Sumner 
 says : — "I have always believed that instead of sending these 
 troops into that action in driblets^ had Gen. McClellan authorized 
 me to march these forty thousand on the left flank of the enemy, 
 we would not have failed to throw them," &c. 
 
SHARPSBURG. 133 
 
 "T/i driblets I'''^ Alas! what would Lee have 
 thought of di'iblets of divisions and whole corps ! One 
 of these driblets was eighteen thousand men. 
 
 The truth is, that until noon the Confederates fought 
 more than three to one; that throughout the action 
 they were never opposed by less than two and a-half 
 to one ; that Jackson, on the left, remained unmoved 
 for hours, though the enemy threw against him about 
 ten to one. 
 
 These statements may be regarded as " rebel exag- 
 gerations." That is not important; they are on 
 record, and history will protect her own. 
 
 Lee might thus have retired,- without imputation 
 upon his com'age — might have recrossed into Virginia 
 and declined battle. He remained upon the soil of 
 Maryland and accepted it. 
 
 Sharpsburg followed ; and this great combat we 
 now proceed to trace in outline. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 16th, Lee had about twenty- 
 five thousand men in line of battle, his back to Sharps- 
 burg, his left hand touching the Potomac, his right 
 extending into the angle formed by the river and 
 Antietam creek. 
 
 Sharpsburg is a village, in the midst of a rolling 
 country, dotted with farm houses, lost in orchards ; 
 fields divided by stone walls ; and through the valley 
 in front of it rolls the narrow and crooked Antietam, 
 spanned by rustic bridges on the Boonsboro' and other 
 roads. 
 
 On the high ground beyond, at the foot of the moun- 
 tain, McClellan's numerous infantry and artillery were 
 13 
 
134: SHABPSBUBQ. 
 
 drawn up, his main strength massed on the right, to 
 strike the Southern left. 
 
 The plans of a general are more interesting than 
 the fighting of his troops. McClallan's design here 
 was to turn the Confederate left, driving Lee into the 
 river, and he never ceased hammering at that " fatal 
 left," until his right wing was nearly shattered by the 
 hard anvil against which this hammer struck. 
 
 On the evening of the 16th, Hooker, commanding 
 the Federal right, crossed the stream and gained 
 ground, after sharp fighting. On the morning of the 
 17th, the day of Sharpsbm-g, he attacked from this 
 advanced position. 
 
 At the first streak of dawn, in the clear autumn sky, 
 before the variegated leaves of the forest trees were 
 reddened by sunrise, the opposing lines began to thun- 
 der. 
 
 Hooker, with eighteen thousand men, and Mans- 
 field's corps hastening forward to support him, was 
 attacking the four thousand men of Jackson. The 
 woods reverberated, the echoes rolled among the hills, 
 the fields were full of the long rattle of musketry, 
 mingled with shouts and cheers. Jackson grappled 
 with his adversary, and held his ground so well that 
 Hooker was wholly unable to drive him back. 
 
 Such was the state of things w^hen, at seven o'clock, 
 just as the sun was soaring above the mountain in his 
 rear. Gen. Mansfield arrived and threw his corps into 
 action. Before this great reinforcement the Confed- 
 erates were pressed back, and a point of woods be- 
 yond the Hagersto^vn road was seized by the Federals ; 
 not, however, without terrible loss and disorganization. 
 
SHABPSBUBO. 135 
 
 Jackson's loss was frightful, but his opponents' worse. 
 Gen. Mansfield was mortally wounded ; Gen. Hooker 
 was shot and borne from the field ; the Federal troops 
 were breaking in spite of their success, when the corps 
 of Sumner arrived, and was thrown forward, just in 
 time to prevent a thorough rout. 
 
 Hear the evidence of Gen. Sumner : 
 
 "On going upon the field, I found that Gen. 
 Hooker's corps had been dispersed and routed. I 
 passed him, some distance in the rear, where he had 
 been carried, wounded, but I saw nothing of his coi-ps 
 at all as I was advancing with my command on the 
 field. I sent one of my staff ofiicers to fijid where 
 they were, and Gen. Eicketts, the only officer we 
 could find, stated that he could not raise three hun- 
 dred men of the corps." ^ 
 
 Strange result of the great assault of Hooker and 
 Mansfield, with their thirty thousand men, on the fom* 
 thousand of Jackson ! 
 
 " I saw nothing of his corps at all ! " 
 
 " He could not raise three hundred men ! " 
 
 It was in reference to this portion of the action that 
 Gen. Sumner groaned out that the troops were sent 
 in " in driblets " — that is, corps after corps. 
 
 Such was the result on the Federal side — repulse 
 with terrible loss ; Mansfield killed ; Hooker wound- 
 ed ; the line breaking. On the Confederate side the 
 mortality was truly frightful. Gen. Starke, command- 
 ing Jackson's division, was killed ; more than a half 
 of some brigades, more than a third of others, dis- 
 
 * Report on Conduct of "War, 1, 368. 
 
136 SHAHrSBURG. 
 
 abled — in many regiments there were almost no com- 
 missioned officers. Jackson had repnlsed the great 
 assault, but the ground, on which his firm foot yet 
 rested, was bathed in the best blood of the South. 
 
 But this was the mere preface — the ante-chamber 
 to the temple of horror. Pausing only to pant and 
 recover their breath after the fierce struggle, the Fed- 
 eral forces reformed their line ; cheers rose from the 
 great mass, and the huge wave rolled f oward — this 
 time bent on enveloping Jackson's left and dri^^ing 
 him back on the centre. 
 
 The attack was met with desperation. Each soldier 
 seemed to feel that on his firmness depended the fate 
 of Gen. Lee. Jackson half faced to the left the two 
 small brigades of Hood — one of them numbering, he 
 says, but eight hundred and sixty-four men — rushed 
 forward and filled the gap thus made on Jackson's 
 right. In an instant the fiercest wrestle of the great 
 day of- Sharpsburg began, in the midst of cheers, 
 shouts, thmider, and lightning. 
 
 The brush of a grand painter could alone convey 
 something like a conception of that wild grapple. Jack- 
 son, reinforced by Hood, had now about six thousand 
 men engaged in all, and these were stubbornly breast- 
 ing the great rush of Hooker, Mansfield, and Sumner. 
 The odds were beyond mortal endurance. Worn out 
 and decimated by the very attrition of the struggle, 
 Jackson was being forced back, when McLaws and 
 Walker at last arrived with reinforcements; then 
 everything suddenly changed. 
 
 Xever in all the war was the value of " fi-esh troops," 
 however small their number, more conclusively shown. 
 
8HABPSBUR0. 137 
 
 « 
 
 In the twinkle of an eye, tlie Southern lines were 
 reformed and ceased retiring. Cheers rose ; stagger- 
 ing volleys followed ; Jackson's whole line advanced 
 with wild shouts, and drove the Federal line back. 
 Before he stopped the advance, Jackson had forced 
 back Hooker more than half a mile ; had resumed the 
 position from which he was driven in the morning; 
 then he stood grim and deHant, ready to renew the 
 struggle. The great assault of McClellan had been 
 completely repulsed; the battle of Sharpsburg was 
 decided. 
 
 This was the grand conflict of the day, and on the 
 left centred the main interest — but once or twice 
 affairs were critical on the right and centre. 
 
 Jackson had just repulsed his opponent, when an 
 accident occnrred which nearly resulted in Gen. Lee's 
 destruction. 
 
 In the centre was JRodes' brigade, and, — during the 
 momentary absence of that officer, — through a mis- 
 conception of orders the brigade was withdi-awn. ISio 
 sooner had this occui-red than the Federal forces 
 rushed forward ; there was nothing to meet them ; in 
 an instant Gen. Lee's centre would have been pierced 
 and his army cut in two. 
 
 Then, what they wanted in numbers, the Southern- 
 ers made up by reckless courage. Gen. D. H. Hill 
 galloped thither, and hastily collected about two hun- 
 dred men, whom he led gallantly forward. Miller's 
 batteiy hastened uj), unlimbered, and opened a furious 
 fire. Col. Cooke, ^vith about three hundred men of 
 his regiment, faced the masses rushing on, "standing 
 boldly in line," says Gen. Lee, " without a catridge." 
 12* 
 
138 SHABPSBURO. 
 
 Then a curious spectacle was presented to the sol- 
 diei-s of both armies. Lieut. Gen. Hill was seen lead- 
 ing a2;ainst the enemy a force of two hundred men, 
 cheering them them on in person. Lieut. Gen. Long- 
 street was seen on foot, loading and fii-ing a piece of 
 artillery. 
 
 The Federal division of Gen. Hichardson, imposed 
 upon by this bold front, came to a halt and remained 
 stationery until Lee had filled the gap. 
 
 So, the centre was saved. 
 
 On the rio^ht, there was also a moment of extreme 
 peril. Let us briefly relate how things stood there and 
 what was done. 
 
 Nearly east of Sharpsburg, was a bridge over the 
 Antietam. On the heights above this bridge rested 
 the right of Lee; opposite, across the stream, were 
 drawn up the fifteen thousand men of Burnside, with 
 Porter at his back. 
 
 This force was held in reserve, for " eventualities " 
 came soon after sunrise, when Hooker could not ad- 
 vance. 
 
 Then McClellan argued and acted like a good sol- 
 dier. That stubborn stand on the left must mean that 
 Lee had massed his main force there, leaving the right 
 wing weak. Burnside was thereupon ordered, at eight 
 o'clock, to pass the bridge, and immediately assail the 
 Southern right. 
 
 At half -past eight he had not moved; not at nine. 
 McClellan sent new orders and more urgent ones, for 
 the combat on his right was going against him, and a 
 diversion was absolutely necessary. Still Burnside 
 
SRAMPSBURG. 139 
 
 did not move — at ten he was still there ; at twelve he 
 had not passed the Antieram. 
 
 Meanwhile, Lee had acted. He had thrown Walker 
 and McLaws from the right, to Jackson's relief — 
 leaving only the two thousand five hmidred men of 
 Gen. Jones opposite Burnside. 
 
 That oflicer finally advanced across the bridge about 
 noon, and "moved mth such extreme caution and 
 slowness " toward Lee's right, that he did not attack 
 the crest where it rested until three o'clock. 
 
 Then he stormed the crest and planted his artillery 
 upon it; but the delay had ruined everything. Just 
 as the crest was carried, A. P. Hill arrived from Har- 
 per's Ferry with two thousand men.* Adding these 
 to the two thousand five himdred of Jones, driven 
 back from the crest, with this force of four thousand 
 five hundred he attacked Bm^nside in turn, driving 
 back to the bridge liis fifteen thousand troops, and 
 terminating the day upon the right of the field as 
 Jackson had terminated it upon the left. 
 
 It was at this moment that McClellan, seeing Burn- 
 side driven back, sent him word, it is said : 
 
 " Hold your ground ! H you cannot, then the bridge 
 to the last man ! Always the bridge ! H the bridge 
 is lost, all is lost ! " 
 
 The defeat of Bm'nside was so decisive, that the 
 moment was indeed full of peril. But night came to 
 stop an advance. 
 
 " It was now nearly dark," says Gen. Lee, " and the 
 enemy had massed a number of batteries to sweep the 
 
 * Eeports Army N. Va., Vol. 2, 129. 
 
140 SHAItPSBURQ. 
 
 approaches to the Aiitietam, on the opposite side of 
 which tlie corps of Gen. Porter, which had not been 
 engaged now appeared to dispute our advance. Under 
 these, circumstances, it was deemed injudicious to push 
 our advantage further." 
 
 Night descended — the thunder ceased — the great 
 pall of darkness fell over the bloody field, covered 
 with the dying and the dead. 
 
 McClellan was repulsed — thus victory belonged to 
 Lee. 
 
 Such was Sharpsburg, one of the most desperate and 
 sanguinary struggles of the war. We have en- 
 deavored to describe it with the impartiality of truth 
 itself — and no statement has been made which the 
 record will not vouch for. 
 
 As to the numbers, the statements rest upon the 
 words of Lee and Jackson ; and it is not probable that 
 the world will doubt them. 
 
 That with a force so small Lee could repulse an 
 army so large as his opponent's, is due to two simple 
 facts : 
 
 I. The troops were manoeuvered with a foresight 
 and promptness which characterize only the greatest 
 generals of history. 
 
 II. The men were the veterans of the old Army of 
 Northern Yirginia ; were officered by Jackson, Long- 
 street, and Hill ; and fought as the three hundred of 
 Leonidas fought at Thermopylae — ready to die, but 
 not to surrender. 
 
 Taken altogether, that fight oa the left was one of 
 the most astonishing of any war — for four thousand 
 stood for hours against thirty or forty thousand, and 
 
SEAEPSBUBG. 141 
 
 more than once drove them back in disorder. Hill's 
 repulse of Burnside, four to one, on the right, was glori- 
 ous — but Burnside died easy. Jackson's repulse of 
 Hooker, ten to one, was grand — for Hooker died hard. 
 That combat indeed brought back the old ages of 
 mythology. This Titan stood erect, strong and defiant, 
 if not unscathed, when the whole magazine of thunder- 
 bolts had been exhausted upon him. 
 
 On the next day. Gen. Lee remained in line of 
 battle, awaiting another attack; but none was made. 
 The Federal loss "and disorganization," says Gen. 
 McClellan, prevented it on that day. 
 
 On the morning of the next, Lee had recrossed the 
 Potomac, to supply his army with rations and ammuni- 
 tion. His opponent attempted to follow, and was 
 driven into the river. 
 
 So the Maryland campaign ended. 
 
 In October, Gen. HftUeck telegraphed to McClellan : 
 
 " Cross the Potomac, and give battle to the enemy, 
 or drive him south." 
 
 McClellan crossed, and at Warrenton was " relieved 
 fi'om the command of the Army of the Potomac." 
 
 Hapless McClellan ! It was harsh. Lee would 
 have annihilated the " whipped army " of the Potomac 
 retreating to Malvern Hill " like a parcel of sheep."* 
 McClellan's cool generalship saved it. Lee would 
 have gone to Pennsylvania, and advanced to Philadel- 
 phia — McClellan organized Pope's remnants, ad- 
 vanced, and fought, and drove his adversary from 
 
 * See testimony of Gen. Hooker (Conduct of War, 1, 580) for 
 tliese strong expressions. "A few shots from the rebels," said 
 Gen. Hooker, "would have panic-stricken the whole command." 
 
14:2 SEARPSBTTRO. 
 
 Maryland. Lee would have recrossed in October — 
 McClellan stopped him, and by advancing into Virginia 
 forced his great foe to fall back Richmonward. And 
 after all these services, the axe fell. 
 
 " Off with his head ! So much for Buckingham ! " 
 Gen. McClellan received the fatal order wliile con- 
 versing, in his tent, near AVarrenton, with Gen. Bum- 
 side. His countenance did not change, and in a voice 
 as calm as a May morning, he said, handing the paper 
 to his companion : 
 
 " Well, Burnside, you are to command the army." 
 Kever was a more singular freak of destiny. The 
 officer who had failed to cross the Antietam and drive 
 back HjII's four thousand five hundred, with his fifteen 
 thousand, at Sharpsburg, was now to cross the Eappa- 
 hannock and drive back the Army of Northern Vir- 
 ginia, under Lee. 
 
 Of that appointment one might have said: — "It 
 will not and it cannot come to good." But the fiat 
 had gone forth. 
 
 McClellan set out for Kew Jersey. Burnside com- 
 menced his march toward — Fredericksburg. 
 
YL 
 
 FEEDEEICKSBUKG. 
 
 In December, 1862, the Amay of Korthern Yirginia 
 was holding the heights south of Fredericksburg. 
 
 At three o'clock in the morning, on the 11th of that 
 month, the troops were waked from slumber by a sin- 
 gle gun, which sent its warning voice across the 
 gloom. 
 
 Then this first discharge was followed by another, 
 and the men sprung to arms ; the camps buzzed ; line 
 of battle was formed — all along the crest, from 
 Maiye's Hill down to Hamilton's Crossing, the army 
 stood ready. 
 
 The moment had come; for those two cannon, 
 suddenly thimdering in the cold night-watches, were 
 signal guns. Through their bronze mouths, Lee said 
 to his men : 
 
 " Get ready ! The enemy are crossing ! " 
 
 Soon, from the direction of Fredericksburg, came 
 the quick rattle of musketry. Something of interest 
 was evidently going on there. Gen. Lee was soon in 
 the saddle, and couriers, passing at a swift gallop, like 
 phantoms through the darkness, brought him intelli- 
 gence from the front. 
 
 In fact, Gen. Bumside was making, at last, his great 
 
 (143) 
 
144 FREDERICKSBURG. 
 
 advance to storm tlie liei'o^hts on the Yir^^inia side of 
 of the Rappahannock. Knowmg well the mettle of 
 his great opponent, Lee — honestly distrusting his abil- 
 ity to command so large an arni}^^ — ntterly opposed 
 to a decisive trial of strength at this time and place — 
 Biu'nside had yet been pnshed forward by liis Govern- 
 ment ; ordered to strike ; and on the morning of this 
 day of December, 1862, he was obeying. 
 
 All the night of the 10th, pontoons were being hauled 
 down to the stream, at Fredericksburg and below ; at 
 three o'clock in the morning, as we have seen, the sig- 
 nal guns of Lee announced that the boats wxre being 
 lashed together to cross over the army. 
 
 At the town, took place the main effort to impede 
 J;he movement. The river street was lined with Barks- 
 dale's Mississippians, and no sooner had they heard 
 the rattle of timbers and the hum of busy workmen, 
 through the dense fog on the stream, than every man 
 was on the alert. The Federal pontoneers ivorked 
 like beavers in the gloom, knowing the peril they were 
 exposed to — and soon their expectations were reahzed. 
 A sudden storm of bullets hissed through the mist ; the 
 foremost workmen fell dead or mortally wounded, and 
 the rest recoiled before the unseen enemy. 
 
 Time after time the effort was renewed, but alwavs 
 the fire of the Mississippians drove back the boat- 
 builders. One, two, three, four, five, six hours passed 
 with no better success — when, in a rage, doubtless, at 
 this ill-fortmie. Gen. Burnside, at ten o'clock, opened 
 
 * " I told them tliat I was not competent to command such a large 
 army as this. I had said the same over and over again to the Pre- 
 sident and Secretary of War." — Burnside in Conduct of War, 1, 650. 
 
FREDERICKSBURG. ,- 146 
 
 on the tOAvn with one hundred and forty-seven pieces 
 
 of artillery. 
 
 Then, as though driven from the held by this tre- 
 mendous cannonade, the fog rose, drifted off, and dis- 
 appeared. From an eminence, jutting out from the 
 crest of hills on which his army was drawn up, Gen. 
 Lee looked in silence at the curious and tragic spec- 
 tacle. 
 
 On the hills beyond the river were seen long rows of 
 Federal cannon, grim and sullen, or spouting smoke 
 and flame. Every instant came the quick, red glare, 
 the bellowing roar, and the burst of shell above the 
 devoted town. 
 
 Fredericksburg was being bombarded — racked right 
 and left with a cross-fire of shot and shell. This hurri- 
 cane of death swept through the streets, incessant, re- 
 morseless, never relaxing in its fury. Houses crashed 
 down ; the church steeples shook and tottered, as shot 
 tore them ; women and children ran for life, pursued 
 by bursting shell ; flames rose, and a great cloud of lu- 
 rid smoke drifted away, mingling itself with the snowy 
 cannon smoke on the Stafford hills. 
 
 When, at noon, the cannonade ceased, the town was 
 on fire in many places, and long after night the red 
 flames of burning mansions contended with the dark- 
 ness, rendering wilder and more weird the sombre 
 scene of destruction. At intervals only, a single gun 
 roared sullenly from the northern hills, like a wild 
 beast growhng over his prey. 
 
 Soon after the beginning of the cannonade, another 
 
 attempt was made to throw the pontoons over, but it 
 
 failed again. Barksdale had not retreated ; amid crash- 
 13 
 
146 FREDERICKSBURG. 
 
 ing cliimneys and lionses tliundering doAvn, his men still 
 stood — and every effort of the Federal troops to lay 
 their bridges was defeated. It was only in the after- 
 noon that a brave officer of the Northern army threw 
 across three regiments in barges. These advanced ; 
 assailed Barksdale f m-ionslv ; drove him from the 
 place ; then the pontoon bridge was rapidly laid, and 
 the head of Bm-nside's column was at once thrown 
 over. 
 
 The cruel bombardment did not effect that — it 
 effected absolutely nothing. It was the three regi- 
 ments in l)arges, wliich a third lieutenant, without a 
 beard on liis face, would have sent across twelve hours 
 before. 
 
 Lee, wi'apped in his old gray riding cape, looked on, 
 as we have said, from the spot now called " Lee's Hill," 
 near the telegraph road, and beside him stood Long- 
 street, stout, heavily bearded, and calm, like his com- 
 mander. It was hard to realize, looking at these un- 
 moved faces, that the Virginian and the Carolinian were 
 witnessing the destruction of one of the oldest and most 
 hospitable of Virginian cities. 
 
 If any one doubts the extent of that destruction, let 
 him go thither, as the present writer did, the other day, 
 and look at the long rows of ruins, the ghost-like chim- 
 neys, the blackened walls, and the river facade of the 
 houses riddled with cannon balls. In one small house 
 I counted fifty. And the fact is not surprising. In 
 two hours. Gen. Bumside had fired seven thousand 
 three hundred and fifty rounds upon the town. 
 
 So, on that night of December the 11th, Fredericks- 
 burg was torn to pieces — the shattered church spires 
 
FREDEPdCKSBUnG, 147 
 
 shone in tlie light of roaring flames — the random guns 
 from the " Chatham " hill bellowed sombre and trimn- 
 phant over all. 
 
 Throughout the night, and all day on the 12th, Gen. 
 Burnside was crossing. It was a very striking specta- 
 cle, viewed from the summit of Lee's Hill — where 
 Gen. Lee, as before, stood, looking on in silence. Op- 
 posite the pontoon bridge were seen the heavy and 
 dark masses of the Federal infantry, about to cross. 
 The great columns undulated as they moved down 
 from the hills, like gigantic serpents, with glittering 
 bayonets and gun-barrels for scales. Above them ban- 
 ners waved — through the clear December air came 
 the notes of the drum and bugle ; you could even hear 
 the rumble of the artillery — those bronze war-dogs, in 
 whose mouths the thunder slmnbered. All dav, as we 
 have said, the Federal forces were crossing, with little 
 opposition. 
 
 On the night of the 12th, the army was over, and it 
 was e\'ident that on the next day Gen. Bnmside would 
 deliver battle, by advancing to storm the position occu- 
 pied by Lee. 
 
 What was that position, and what the character of 
 the ground upon which was fought this bloody action? 
 Let us look at it. Battles are mazes, without some 
 knowledge of the localities. Let us take our stand on 
 the eminence called Lee's Hill, which juts out from 
 the crest, commanding a full view of all. Beneath us 
 stretches a plain extending to the Bappahannock. Be- 
 yond the plain the roofs and spires of Fredericksburg 
 are seen, not a mile away. On the northern shores of 
 the river, rise lofty hills, crowned with white mansions. 
 
148 FREDERICKSDURQ, 
 
 In front of these mansions, flags are seen to flutter — 
 thej indicate the head-quarters of some Federal general. 
 Along the hills dusky objects dot the crest — they are 
 cannon. Through the gorges you see dark and motion- 
 less masses — they are Federal infantry, waiting for the 
 order to advance. 
 
 That oflicer on horseback yonder, slowly pacing 
 along the hills, is perhaps Gen. Bm-nside, reconnoiter- 
 ing. Those specks upon the river banks are pickets. 
 Behind the hill yonder, something stands wliich you 
 cannot make out — it is a pontoon train ready to mo^-e. 
 
 Let us look now at the southern shore. To the right 
 and left of us stretches the wooded crest upon which 
 Gen. Lee has dra^^'n up his line of battle. On the left, 
 extending from his centre to the river above, is Long- 
 street's line, embattled, ready, and bristling yonder on 
 the summit of Marye's Hill, with grim-looking cannon. 
 There the Irish brio:ade is p-oino^ to charo^e ^vith masr- 
 nificent elan^ and strew the fatal field in fi'ont of that 
 stone wall, at the foot of the hill, with their bodies. 
 On the rio^ht is Jackson, holdino^ the wooded crest to 
 the point at Hamilton's Crossing, where it sinlvs into 
 the plain. A.t every opening in his line you see the 
 muzzles of cannon ; on the hill above the crossing, • 
 which the men are going to call " Dead Horse Hill," 
 he has massed his batteries, to rake the field before 
 him when the enemy rush forward there, as it is evi- 
 dent they will. Still further, on the right, in the great 
 plain reaching to the Massaponnax, Stuart is visible 
 with his guns — not with his cavalry. He has recon- 
 noitered the whole ground ; found the fields intersected 
 by deep ditches, with long rows of cedars lining them, 
 
FREDERICKSBURG. 149 
 
 and cavalry cannot operate there. The hoi'semen ac- 
 cordingly are drawn up in the woods, on the flank — 
 Stuart is going to mass thirty pieces of artillery in that 
 Held, and open a furious Are on the Federal left as they 
 charge the slopes of '' Dead IIoi*se Hill." 
 
 Thus the Confederate position is powerful enough, 
 giving many advantages. But the enemy have some, 
 too. On the banks of the river yonder are steep bluffs, 
 under which they can find shelter from the shot and 
 shell ; in the numerous ditches, lined with cedars, they 
 will have the best possible rifle-pits from which to fire 
 upon the cannoneers of Stuart. If the Southern lines 
 advance too far into the plain, the dusky objects yon- 
 der, on the heights across the river, which are 'Hhirty- 
 pound Parrotts," will sweep the whole field, tearing 
 men, hoi-ses, and guns to pieces with their iron thun- 
 derbolts. 
 
 As long, however, as Lee holds his position upon the 
 heights, there can be small doubt of the result. Hu- 
 manly speaking, he cannot be driven from the ground. 
 His fifty thousand muskets can hold it forever. Thrice 
 Bm-nside's force can make no impression, and the proof 
 is that one-third of Lee's is going to repulse him with- 
 out difficulty. 
 
 The situation must have looked ngly to the Federal 
 commander, but he did not seem to realize its full sig- 
 nificance. He must have seen that to advance across 
 that fatal plain would cost him rivers of blood ; that 
 Lee's position here was twice as strong as that at Sharps- 
 burg, and his army twice as numerous as then — and yet, 
 in spite of all, in the very teeth of fate. Gen. Burnside 
 
 seemed determined to risk all ; to advance across that 
 13* 
 
160 FREDEEICKSBURG, 
 
 plain, and to butt, bull-like, against this fortress, brist- 
 lino^ with bayonets and cannon. How to attack and 
 fight a successful battle there would have puzzled 
 JS^apoleon. It is difficult to say what that great master 
 of the art of war would have done upon the occasion ; 
 but it may be declared with absolute certainty that he 
 would not have done what Gen. Burnside did. Some- 
 where — either on the right or the left — the Emperor 
 would have massed his battalions, and launched half 
 his force at Lee, with the fury of an avalanche which 
 bursts through every obstacle. Instead of adopting 
 this, the only plan which promised success, Gen. Burn- 
 side ordered assaults to be made on the right and left 
 with single divisions. These two divisions it was 
 hoped, would be able to break through the veteran 
 corps of Longstreet and Jackson ! 
 
 Does any reader say that this statement is absurd ? 
 The truth is of record. In that great " open sesame " 
 to all hidden things, " The Report on the Conduct of 
 the War," the facts are recorded. Gen. Burnside 
 himself convicts himself of fatal ignorance of the 
 ground— ^ of a terrible misapprehension of the obsta- 
 cles in his path. 
 
 The proof is given. 
 
 " The enemy," said Gen. Burnside,* " had cut a 
 road along in the rear of the line of heights where we 
 made our attack. ... I obtained fi*om a colored 
 man, from the other side of the town, information 
 in regard to this new road which proved to be correct. 
 I wanted to obtain possession of that new road, and 
 
 * Conduct of Wax, Part I., pp. 653. 
 
FBEDERICKSBUBG. 151 
 
 that was my reason for making an attack on the ex- 
 treme left. . . . Then I pm-posed to make a direct 
 attack on their front, and diive them out of their 
 works." 
 
 That is to say, that the little " Mine Road " running 
 in rear of Gen. Lee's right wing, presented itself t;> 
 General Burnside's imagination, after talking with the 
 " colored man," as a great military highway, cut by 
 his opponent, connecting his wings, and constituting 
 the key of liis position. To gain possession of that 
 mere bridle path appeared to him a matter of the first 
 importance, and a division was sent to drive Jackson 
 from in front of it ! 
 
 Proof — the order of Gen. Burnside, December 13, 
 5.55 A. M., to General Franklin, on his left.^ " Send 
 out at once a division at least . . to seize, if possi- 
 ble, the heights near Captain Hamilton's." 
 
 Fatal Order Xo. 1 ! — The " heights near Captain 
 Hamilton's " were the liills upon which Jackson was 
 drawn up with his triple line of bayonets, and his ar- 
 tillery waiting to do the terrible work it did do. 
 
 In the same manner Lee's left, at Marye's Hill, was 
 to be assailed, and driven back — iy cv division. 
 
 Proof — the same order, aimouncing Burnside's di- 
 rections to Gen. Sumner on his right. "He (Burn- 
 side) has ordered another column, of a division or 
 more, to be moved from Gen. Sumner's command 
 up the Plank Eoad to its intersection with the Tele- 
 graph Boad, where they will divide, with the object 
 of seizing the heights on both of those roads." 
 
 * Conduct of War, Part I, p. 701. 
 
152 FREDERICK8BUR0. 
 
 Fatal Order No. 2 ! — The " Plank Eoad " led straight 
 into the muzzles of Longstreet's cannon, on Marye's 
 Hill — " the heights " in question. The point of " in- 
 tersection mth the Telegraph Koad " was the locality 
 of that sombre, fatal, terrible stone wall, lined with 
 Southern marksmen, in front of which the divisions of 
 French, Hancock, and Humphreys, charged so splen- 
 didly, and were torn to pieces by the concentrated fire 
 of small arms and artillery hurled upon them within 
 point blank range, as they uselessly rushed to their 
 death. 
 
 " Holding these heights, with the heights near Cap- 
 tain Hamilton's," adds General Burnside's order, " will, 
 I hope, compel the enemy to evacuate the whole ridge 
 between these points." If not, then, as he sa^^s in his 
 testimony, " I proposed to make a direct attack on 
 their front, and drive them out of their works." 
 
 Such was the programme of operations adopted by 
 Gen. Burnside. It cannot be said to be mis-stated, 
 for it is given on the authority of his general order, 
 and his own testimony. He proposed to assault the 
 two powerful positions at Marye's Hill and Hamilton's 
 Crossing, with a division at a time, and it will be seen 
 that it was done. Gen. Meade, commanding the as- 
 saulting force at Hamilton's, says he had in all only 
 ten thousand men engaged. In reserve, looking on, 
 were the forty-five or fifty thousand men of Frank- 
 lin.* 
 
 From the moment when Gen. Siunner, command- 
 
 * See the testimony of Gen. Meade, FranMin's force, in all, lie 
 says, was "fifty-five or sixty thousand men." 
 
FREDERICKSBURG. 153 
 
 ing the two coi-ps of the Right Grand Division, and 
 Gen. FrankL'n, commanding the two corps of the 
 Left Grand Division, received that order to attack in 
 driblets, they must have felt that all was over. This 
 Gibraltar was going to be pelted with popgnns, when 
 a battering ram^ and a hea\y one, was needed. Why 
 this frightful blunder ? The explanation is not diffi- 
 cult. Gen. Burnside had estimated his own powers 
 with singular justice. What his government regarded 
 as unfounded self-depreciation was really modest, good 
 sense. He was painfully unequal to the arduous work 
 which the authorities had thrust upon him. He did 
 his best, but that best was bad indeed. The annals of 
 war contain no blunder greater than that attack at 
 Fredericksburg. 
 
 But it is time to terminate this tedious preface — 
 tedious, but necessary. For the rest, it diminishes the 
 lustre of the Southern triumph — this exposition of the 
 mihtary deficiencies of the Federal commander. The 
 troops did their part, and did it well. They fought 
 with admirable dash and courage, until they found 
 what a cul-de-sac they had been thrust into ; then they 
 sullenly refused to charge again, tired of a farce so 
 bloody. 
 
 But it was not a farce ; it was a tragedy. Of that 
 the reader shall judge. 
 
 At midnight of the 12th December, this, then, was 
 the position of the adversaries. Lee was on the wooded 
 heights with Longstreet commanding his left, Jackson 
 his right — waiting. Burnside was on the plain upon 
 the river's bank, and in the town — Sumner command- 
 ing his right, Franklin his left, Hooker his centre, in 
 
154 FBEDERICKSBURO, 
 
 reserve, beyond the river. From the gray MnQSjperdus 
 in the woods of the west no sound came. From the 
 blue multitude rose a hum, a buzz, a murmur, harsh 
 and threatening. Arms clashed, horses neighed, ar- 
 tillery rumbled — above all rang, from time to time, 
 the metallic vibrations of the bugle. 
 
 The force of Burnside was somewhat more than 
 one hundred thousand muskets.* Lee numbered about 
 fifty thousand bayonets in all. The odds were thus 
 two to one about. 
 
 Of the morale of the Northern army, the present 
 writer knows nothing. The ragged veterans of Lee 
 were joyfuL Never had the old army of Northern 
 Virginia been in better trim for an obstinate, dash- 
 ing fight. The troops were all bone and muscle — 
 every eye laughed — victory seemed to hover in the 
 air above them, and salute them in advance. All 
 day they had laughed and jested ; they were now at 
 midnight sleeping on their arms, awaiting, without 
 care, that dawn which would unchain the thunder. 
 
 At the first dim intimation of the coming day, 
 seen through the fog which wrapped all the land- 
 scape, the woods began to buzz. Every man clutched 
 his gun. Then cheers were heard resounding in the 
 underwood along the slope near Hamilon's Crossing. 
 Lee was passing in front of the lines accompanied 
 by Jackson and Stuart. 
 
 These three men were, par excellence^ the mri il- 
 
 * "G-en. rrarLklin liad now with him about one-half the whole 
 army," says a Federal writer. "That force," says Gen. Meade, 
 " amounted to from fifty-fi^e thousand to sixty thousand men." — 
 Cond. of War, 1, 691. 
 
FREDERICKSBURG. 155 
 
 lustroB of the Soutlierii army. There were others whose 
 fio-ures will live forever on canvas, in marble, and 
 cut deep in human hearts — Johnston, Beauregard, 
 Longstreet, Hill, Hood, and a hundred more. But 
 those three rose tallest and most distinct from the 
 smoke of the Yirginia battles — Lee, Jackson, and 
 Stuart. They owed that prominence not only to 
 their soldiership, but to the personal and mental in- 
 dividuality which characterized them. 
 
 Look at them for a moment, as they ride along 
 the lines, and you will see that they are types. 
 
 Lee is the model cavalier of the great Anglo-lSTor- 
 man race. His figure is tall and erect ; his seat in 
 the saddle perfect. ELis uniform is plain but neat; 
 his equipment beyond criticism. Stately, thorough- 
 bred, graceful in every movement, there is some- 
 thing in his glance, in the very carriage of his per- 
 son, that is illustrious and imposing. He has the 
 army-leader look. There is not the remotest parti- 
 cle of ostentation, much less of an-ogance, in his 
 bearing. This man was a gentleman, you can see, 
 before he was a soldier. 
 
 Jackson's is a figure altogether different. He has 
 cast aside to-day, by mere accident, liis old dingy uni- 
 form, to put on a fine dress-coat, which Stuart has 
 given him — an overcoat of quite surpassing elegance 
 — and a new cap, which dazzles the eye with its braid. 
 But he cannot hide the individuality of " Stonewall 
 Jackson." His seat in the saddle is ungraceful ; he 
 rides with his knees drawn up ; his chin is in the air, 
 and he looks out from beneath his fine new cap as he 
 did from beneath his old dingy one, thrown aside. It 
 
156 FREDERICKSBURQ. 
 
 is scarcely an army-leader that yon look at — rather a 
 shy and absent-minded student, drawn forth from the 
 pious meditations of his study by the bruit of war, and 
 listening with a sort of bewildered glance to all this 
 clash of arms. Awkward, unimposing, silent, there is 
 in this figure not the least hint of the man of Port 
 Republic, Cold Harbour, and Sharpsburg — never has 
 the flawless diamond of supreme military genius pre- 
 sented itself to men so thoroughly " in the rough," un- 
 cut and unburaished. To know its quality, you must 
 strike against it. Not the heaviest sledge-hammer of 
 war can splinter it. 
 
 Last of the illustrious trio is Stuart, the ideal cavalry 
 commander of all imagination — young, laughing, joy- 
 ous, superb, "svith rattling sabre, brilliant sash, floating 
 plume — devoted, fearless, ever hoping ; and ready day 
 or night, in sunsliine or in storm, to carry out the plans 
 of Lee — to fight with infantry, artilleiy, or cavalry, 
 and conquer, or " die trying." In his dazzling glance 
 you read the character of this man, who laughs at 
 peril and dares it to do its worst — the incarnation, in 
 the new Revolution, of the dead Rupert of England. 
 
 Li 1864, Lee was maimed, indeed. At Chancellors- 
 ville he had lost his right arm. At Yellow Tavern he 
 had lost his left. 
 
 The cheers rose, rung in the woods, and accompan- 
 ied the three commanders as they rode on to the right, 
 along the railroad, to the old Richmond stage road. 
 Tliis led straight toward the river, striking the river 
 road running parallel with the stream, near the Fed- 
 eral left. 
 
 Franklin was already moving. Stuart conducted 
 
FREDERICKSBUUO. 157 
 
 Gen. Lee to the intersection of the roads, close on the 
 enemy, and pointed out the dusky figures in the fog : 
 they were Federal sharpshooters. As the group sat 
 their horses, motionless, the depths of the fog began 
 to stir. Black specks advanced on the humid field, 
 and bullets whistled. Then the dark lines of the ene- 
 my were seen as they slowly and steadily advanced. 
 
 Stuart called to Pelham, his chief of artillery, and 
 gave him an order. Pelham disappeared at a gallop ; 
 soon the roll of artillei^ was heard : a Xapoleon gun 
 advanced at a rapid gallop through the fog ; and Pel- 
 ham opened fire from the intersection of the roads up- 
 on the enemy's left as they caine on. 
 
 " Meade advanced across the plain,"' says a Federal 
 writer,* "but had not proceeded far before he was 
 compelled to stop and silence a battery that Stuart had 
 posted on the Port Poyal road, and which had a flank 
 fire on his left. 
 
 This battery was one Napoleon — captured at Seven 
 Pines, and used so well at Cold Harbour. Pelham's 
 fire was so rapid and incessant that it checked Meade's 
 whole division. Five thousand men halted until that 
 hornet could be brushed away. 
 
 To silence the galling firCj General Meade brought 
 up two or three batteries, posted them in Pelham's 
 front, at point blank range, and opened on him a furi- 
 ous fire of shot and shell, to which was added the cross 
 fire of some thirty-pound Parrotts on the hills beyond 
 the river. The storm of projectiles thus hurled at the 
 one Kapoleon was enough to move the nerve of a vete- 
 
 * Mr. WiUiam Swinton — " Army of the Potomac," p. 246. 
 
158 FREDERICKSBURO, 
 
 ran. It did not touch Pelham's, though he was literal- 
 ly a " beardless boy." He continued the fire, in the 
 midst of dead and dying men of the gun detachment, 
 and staid until his last round had been fired, and a 
 peremptory order came for him to move. 
 
 Lee had witnessed the hard combat fi*om the hill 
 above. ' 
 
 " It is glorious to see such courage in one so 
 young ! " he exclaimed ; and in his brief report of 
 the battle, he spoke of the young man as the "gal- 
 lant Pelham," knighting him thus upon the field. 
 
 This minute mention of a simple accident will be 
 pardoned in the writer of these lines. Pelham was 
 his friend, and is dead — if heroes ever die. 
 
 Stuart tried to support Pelham with another gun, 
 but it was smashed to pieces ; then Gen. Meade rushed 
 forward. It was nine or ten o'clock; the fog had 
 lifted ; the plain was all alive with serried lines of in- 
 fantry ; and with the thunder of artillery, the rattle of 
 small arms, and the cheers of onset, the Federal forces 
 dashed up headlong to the wooded slope where Jack- 
 son waited, grim and silent, to receive their attack. 
 
 They had come within a few hundred yards ; the 
 Confederate skirmishers ran in, as though a wind had 
 swept them back ; Meade gallantly rushed on, when sud- 
 denly from the crest a volcano flamed. It was Jackson's 
 artillery, held in leash until then. ISTow, all at once, it 
 opened. The crest spouted smoke and flame ; a deto- 
 nation tore the air, and the Federal lines gave back, 
 with huge gaps in them, made by the frightful fire of 
 shell and cannister. In spite of this bloody reception, 
 however, the ranks were quickly reformed; the lines 
 
FREDEBICKSBUBG, 159 
 
 were dressed with admirable coolness ; and, though the 
 artillery upon the crest roared on, doing bloody work, 
 the men rushed headlong at the heights. 
 
 There a stubborn, bitter, desperate combat took 
 place — the Confederates not moving. But a fatal ac- 
 cident came suddenly to the enemy's assistance. Hill 
 had left a gap between two of liis brigades — the Fede- 
 ral forces pierced it — the line fell back; in a few mo- 
 ments Jackson's th-st line was driven, and the Federal 
 troops rushed up, and gained the crest. 
 
 That charge was as gallant as any in the war, and 
 it deserved to be supported. The support did not 
 come. Five thousand men had dashed into the lion's 
 mouth — the teeth were about to close upon them — 
 fifty thousand in the plain beneath were looking on as 
 mere spectators of this grapple of life and death. 
 Gen. Burnside's order had been carried out. Franklin 
 had sent the " division " to " seize the heights near Capt. 
 Hamilton's ; " they had been seized by that brave rush, 
 and that was all. In thirty minutes Meade's division 
 was driven from the hill — the earth was littered with 
 his dead — the survivors were flpng down the slope, 
 pursued by merciless volleys, leaving blood upon every 
 dry leaf, dead bodies in every ravine. 
 
 Gregg's brigade had met them on the crest, as they 
 rushed up — had checked them without difficulty^ 
 there never had been any hope for them. That was 
 only Jackson's second hne ; his third did not take the 
 trouble to move. 
 
 Meade had lost forty men out of every hundred; 
 the rest were flying, and carrying dismay into the 
 : . ' '^ their comrades. 
 
160 FREDEBICKSBURO. 
 
 Both aiTQies saw this repulse — terrible, bloody, 
 mortal. From a hill, near the centre of his line. Gen. 
 Lee looked on with a glow in his cheeks, and a martial 
 liofht in the clear, commandins^ eyes, which had wit- 
 nessed in their time so many scenes of carnage. As 
 Gen. Meade's lines were now seen flying, pm*sued by 
 Jackson's men, Lee gazed at them in silence ; then, in 
 that deep voice, which never lost its grave and meas- 
 ured accent, he murmured : 
 
 "It is well this is so terrible; we would grow too 
 fond of it ! " 
 
 So terminated the assault upon Jackson. The fatal 
 charge upon Longstreet, holding Marye's Hill, was 
 now to follow. 
 
 The ground has been bnefly referred to; let us 
 look at it again. Marye's Hill is west of Fred- 
 ericksburg, about half a mile distant. Over its 
 abrupt crest runs the Plank Road to Chancellorsville. 
 At its foot comes in fi-om the South the Telegraph 
 Road, skirted here by a low stone wall ; and in front 
 of this wall is an open field, and a small stream. The 
 point of ''intersection of the Plank Road ^-ith the 
 Telegraph Road " was, by Gen. Bumside's order, to be 
 the point of attack for Sumner. Now, this point was 
 the stone wall bristling with infantry, within two hun- 
 dred yards of the heights crowned with artillery. 
 Above the wall rose a hedge of bayonets ; on the hill 
 grinned the bronze mouths of Longstreet's cannon. 
 
 To charge that position was desperation or madness. 
 And it was charged. 
 
 No sooner had the thunders of the assault upon Jack- 
 
FREDERICKSBURG. 161 
 
 son sunk to silence, than the storm Began in front of 
 Longstreet — sudden, frightful, horrible beyond words. 
 
 There are events of the war which the historian 
 shrinks from with a sort of a shudder. The odour of 
 death arises from them ; they smell of the charnel. 
 That assault upon Marye's Heights was one of those 
 terrible episodes, and God forbid that the present 
 writer should take satisfaction in painting the bloody 
 picture. It was a revel of death that the sun witnessed 
 that day — the spectacle of men rushing madly against 
 musketry and cannon, which hurled them back, and 
 tore them to pieces at every step. Sumner obeyed his 
 fatal order, and charged in column of brigades, and in 
 ten minutes they were nearly annihilated. He charged 
 again with mad courage — for this officer had the blood 
 of the soldier — and was met as before. I^ot a man 
 reached that fatal, terrible wall. From its summit the 
 long volleys struck the troops in the face, and from the 
 heights above round shot and shell finished the bloody 
 work. When that thunder had ceased, what the eye 
 saw was a great field covered at every step with 
 corpses ; within twenty-five yards of the wall, the 
 bravest had thrown up their hands, and lay dead in 
 that attitude. 
 
 The assault upon Longstreet had been repulsed like 
 the assault on Jackson. 
 
 Then the madness of despair is said to have seized 
 
 upon Gen. Burnside. He had not witnessed the battle, 
 
 remaining at his head-quarters, the " Phillips House," 
 
 a mile or more from the river; but he now mounted his 
 
 horse, rode down to the banks, dismounted, walked 
 14* 
 
162 FREDERICKSBURG. 
 
 liiirriedly up and do^ni, and, gazing at the ominous 
 heights, which Sumner had just charged, exclaimed : 
 
 " That crest must be carried to-nis^ht ! " 
 
 - Hooker had been held in reserve on the north bank. 
 He was now ordered to cross and attack. He rode 
 over, looked at the ground, returned at full gallop to 
 Gen. Burnside, and remonstrated. 
 
 He was right then ; he was not right afterwards in 
 " making out a case," and as strong a one as possible, 
 against his commander. Gen. Hooker enjoys the dis- 
 agreeable reputation of ha^'ing always sought to strike 
 the fallen — to administer the coup de grace to his 
 unfortunate comi*ades when they were staggering un- 
 der " official " displeasm-e. Ferocious against McClel- 
 lan, after his failure at Cold Harbour, he was savage 
 upon Burnside when defeat had overshadowed him at 
 Fredericksburg. Marye's Hill was an ugly obstacle — 
 Gen. Hooker made it hideous. The stone wall was a 
 barrier. General Hooker made a fortress of it. 
 
 Marye's Hill, he says, was " a mountain of rock." It 
 was only an ordinary eminence, with artillery to de- 
 fend it. 
 
 The stone wall was " five or six hundred yards " long, 
 with " rifle-pits all along " — " not simply a stone wall, 
 but a support wall," with " earth between the rifle-pits 
 and the wall ; " " to batter down that wall was like 
 battering down the masonry of a fortification ; " and 
 " thirty thousand men were massed behind this wall ! " 
 
 So says Gen. Hooker. Let the reader some day get 
 out of the cars at Fredericksburg, and go and look at 
 this terrible " fortification." It is a poor little ordinary 
 Yirginia stone fence, about eighteen inches thick. It 
 
FREDERICKSBURG, 163 
 
 is there to speak for itself — just as is was, still black- 
 ened by the fires kindled on that cold December day 
 
 of 1862. 
 
 The " thirty thousand men," too, were the product 
 .of Gen. Hooker's imagination. The force which held 
 that wall was Cobb's brigade, to which were added, 
 during the action, Kershaw's brigade, and two regi- 
 ments of Gen. Cooke's — in all, seventeen hundred 
 men. It was this force simply," not thirty thousand 
 men, which was "massed behind that wall of five or 
 six hundred yards." 
 
 The animus of Gen. Hooker is all in one sentence of 
 his report : " Finding that I had lost as many men as 
 my orders required me to lose, I suspended the attack." 
 Unhappy Gen. Burnside ! you were struck while down 
 by your remorseless lieutenant, who was burning to 
 show his superior militar}^ genius — at Chancellorsville ! 
 
 Receiving the order to attack again the fatal heights. 
 Hooker remonstrated, as has been seen, declaring, with 
 justice, that the attack was desperate. Gen. Burnside 
 insisted — a vertigo appeared to have seized upon him. 
 Hooker obeyed, sullenly marshalled his troops, and 
 prepared for the assault, by opening with his artillery 
 upon the dangerous stone wall. His object, he says, 
 was to make "a hole" in it for the entrance of the as- 
 saulting column ; and the statement is so curious that 
 it can only be explained upon the theory that Gen. 
 Hooker never saw the wall of which he spoke. 
 
 The artillery fire continued until nearly simset, when 
 ever}^thing was ready for the second assault. The men 
 
 * Reports Army Northem Virginia, VoL 11., p. 445. 
 
164 FREDERICKSBURO. 
 
 had tliro^ai away their knapsacks, and their guns were 
 unloaded. It was necessary for them to depend en- 
 tirely upon the bayonet, " for there was no time there 
 to load and fire," says Gen. Hooker. The column of 
 assault was thus formed, the word was given, and the 
 troops dashed forward with hurrahs to storm the wall 
 and the heio^hts. 
 
 A few words only are necessary to convey the result. 
 From the wall and the liill came the merciless fusillade 
 once more ; the dark masses staggered, then gave way, 
 then retreated swiftly, leaving the ground encumbered 
 with their dead. The charge had lasted " fifteen min- 
 utes ; " and of four thousand men who went forward to 
 the assault, the bodies of seventeen hundred and sixty 
 were left upon the field. 
 
 As Hooker fell back, a threatening roar came from 
 the Confederate right, near Hamilton's crossing ; and 
 that sound announced the inception of one of the most 
 daring enterprises ever conceived by the master mind 
 of Jackson. To this let us now give a few words. 
 
 Repulsing Meade without difiiculty in the morning, 
 Jackson had remained in position upon his wooded 
 crest, waiting all day for a second attack. As the 
 hours passed on, and the enemy only used their artil- 
 lery, it became ob^dous that no fmther assault upon 
 him would be made that day ; and that coidd only 
 result from the fact that their troops were demoralized. 
 What to do? That question never puzzled Jackson 
 long. With the intuition of genius, he understood the 
 whole truth. On the left as on the right — at Marye's 
 as at Hamilton's — the enemy were repulsed and stag- 
 
FREDEEICKSBURG, 165 
 
 gering. The thing was now to drive him into the river 
 at the point of the bayonet. 
 
 Those who saw Jackson then will never forget his 
 face. His eyes glared, his cheeks glowed, his lips were 
 slmt like a ^^ce. In the hurried movements of the 
 man, ordinarily so calm, and in the strident accents of 
 his voice, no less than in his face, could be read the 
 secret of an immense excitement and a fixed and unal- 
 terable resolution. 
 
 The present writer saw him, and wondered at that 
 unwonted emotion, knowing not what was coming. 
 :N'ear the crossing, one of his staff, well known to me, 
 came at a gallop. 
 
 "Are you going to Gen. Stuart ? " he said, hurriedly. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "Well, tell him that Gen. Jackson is going to ad- 
 vance and attack the enemy precisely at sunset — he 
 wishes Gen. Stuart to advance his artillery and fire as 
 rapidly as possible, taking care not to injure the troops 
 as they attack." 
 
 A glance over the shoulder showed that no time was 
 to be lost. The sun was poised like a red-hot shield 
 upon the Massaponnax woods. In ten minutes Gen. 
 Stuart had Jackson's order. 
 
 " Good ! " he exclaimed, and in a few moments his 
 guns began to advance, firing furiously at every pause. 
 Thirty peices under Pelham made the great field a 
 sheet of fiame in the dusk, and step by step Stuart 
 threw forward his artillery, in face of a destructive 
 fii-e, until he was near the Port Eoyal wood, from 
 which Meade had advanced in the morning. But no 
 sound came from Jackson. Stuart was roaring on still, 
 
166 FREDERICKSBURG. 
 
 when a courier came np from one of his generals, ask- 
 ing the news. 
 
 " Tell the General I have advanced," he said, " but 
 Jackson has not, and that I am going on crowding 'em 
 with artillery." 
 
 As night fell he was right upon the enemy's masses 
 — where was Jackson, and why had he not advanced ? 
 That question remains unanswered. Jackson said be- 
 cause the enemy began to fii-e upon him when he 
 moved, with all their batteries. The army said be- 
 cause an order miscarried ; a general lagged ; an hour 
 was lost. One thing only is certain — that that 
 grand assault was never made. 
 
 What result would have followed it? That is a 
 difficult question ; and it is hazardous in military af- 
 fairs to speculate upon events which never took place. 
 
 " From what I knew," says Gen. Franklin, " of our 
 want of success upon the right, and the demoralized 
 condition of the troops upon the right and centre, as 
 represented to me by their commanders, I confess that 
 I beh'eve the order to recross was a very proper one." 
 
 Jackson is said to have adhered to his attack with 
 the bayonet : to have urged, in council of war, that the 
 Confederates should strip naked to the waist, make a 
 night assault, and "drive them into the river." He 
 alone seems to have felt, as by intuition, that the 
 morale of the Federal army was broken. 
 
 And yet Gen. Burnside resolved upon another at- 
 tempt. Crushed in all but his courage, he ordered the 
 Ninth Corps to be marshaled in column of regiments 
 for an assault on Marye's Hill, led by himself in person, 
 and it was only when his corps commanders besought 
 
FREDERICKSBURG. 167 
 
 liim not to slaughter the troops uselessly, that he 
 yielded. 
 
 But the army was not withdra^vn. All day Sunday 
 and Monday — two whole days after the battle — the 
 troops remained dra%\Ti up in the great plain, under 
 the muzzles of Gen. Lee's ffuns. The indecision of tlie 
 Federal commander resembled resolution. He seemed 
 determined to attack again. The bands played, the 
 bannei's rippled, the bugles sounded, the lines were 
 marshaled ; then, on Tuesday morning, after a drench- 
 ing stonn in the night, the multitude had disappeared 
 like the phantasmagoria of a dream. 
 
 Burnside had recrossed the river, and the camj)aign 
 had ended. 
 
 A town in ruins and still smoking ; walls torn with 
 cannon balls ; houses near the stone fence — you can 
 see them still — riddled like sieves with musket bullets ; 
 dead bodies every where ; new-made graves on every 
 side ; broken artillery carriages ; abandoned flags ; 
 women without shelter ; children without food ; dirt, 
 desolation, blood, and mourning — that was wliat re- 
 mained when the Federal army left the south bank of 
 the Happahannock. 
 
 Gen. Burnside had fought one of the bloodiest and 
 most useless battles of history. 
 
YII. 
 
 CHANCELLOESVILLE. 
 
 One day in the winter of 1862, Gen. Stuart was talk- 
 ing at " Camp No-Camp," his Tiead-quarters, near* Fred- 
 ericksburg, with a member of his staff. 
 
 "Where will the next battle be fought. General?" 
 the staff officer asked. 
 
 "]^ear Chancellorsville," was the reply of Stuart. 
 
 And that answer was not guesswork. It was calcu- 
 lation. It was based upon the soundest of all military 
 maxims : " Expect your enemy to do what he ought 
 to do." 
 
 War moves as the stars do in their orbits — by law, 
 not by chance. Certain points in a country are strate- 
 gic as others are not. There was a iii-st battle of 
 Manassas in July, 1861, and a second on the same 
 ground in August, 1862. There was a first battle of 
 Cold Harbor in June, 1862, and a second there in 
 June, 1864. There was a first battle of The Wilder- 
 ness in May, 1863, and a second there in May, 1864. 
 If ever there is another revolution, and Virginia is 
 again invaded, there will be a third battle of Manassas, 
 of Cold Harbor, and of The Wilderness. The terrain is 
 not chosen — it chooses. Armies do not advance to fight 
 at certain spots of the earth ; they are dragged there. 
 
 When Gen. Stuart said that Gen. Hooker would 
 
 (168) 
 
CIIANCELLORSVILLE. 169 
 
 fight at Chancellorsville, he gave the Federal com- 
 mander credit for military acumen. With Lee at 
 Fredericksburg, Chancellor^'ille was the key position. 
 To hold it was to force the Confederate commander to 
 come out and fight on ground chosen by his adversaiy, 
 or to retreat. On the last day of April, Gen. Hooker 
 held it ; in the first days of May the two armies grap- 
 pled there. 
 
 We have seen the iU-fortune which befell Gen. 
 Burnside at Fredericksburg— a reverse from which 
 that ofiicer did not rise. He made one more attempt 
 to cross the Eappahannock at a ford above the to^vn, 
 but liis army stuck in the mud. It was already demor- 
 alized. "The soldier no longer thinks it an honor to 
 belong to the Amiy of the Potomac," wrote a Federal 
 correspondent. When two of the Korthem Generals 
 received Burnside's order, one said to the other : 
 "What do you think of it ?" 
 "It don't seem to have the ring;' was the answer. 
 "ISTo, the hell is hrohen;' replied the first. 
 Here is a sketch of the army making its last advance : 
 "At every turn a wagon or caisson could be seen 
 sticking fast in the mud. In every gully batteries, cais- 
 sons, supply wagons, ambulances, and pontoons were 
 mired ; horses and mules up to their bellies in mud ; 
 soldiers on the march sinldng to their knees at almost 
 every step. It was impossible to draw an empty 
 wagon through the dreadful mud The whole army 
 was stuck fast." 
 
 In fact the "bell was broken," and Gen. Burnside 
 was held responsible. His head fell, and Gen. Joseph 
 Hooker reigned in his stead. 
 15 
 
170 CEANCELLORSVILLE. 
 
 The plan of campaign adopted by the new General 
 was excellent. It was to turn LeeVj left flank, attack 
 from that direction, and force him to fight in open 
 field; or fall back npon Richmond. "While waiting for 
 tlie roads to dry sufticiently to admit of the movement 
 of infantry and artillery, a cavalry expedition was 
 resolved npon, whose aim was to cut the Central Kail- 
 road, and, if possible, traverse the whole State of jS^orth 
 Carolina. 
 
 The expedition started about the middle of March, 
 aiming to pass through Culpeper toward Orange. It 
 was commanded by Gen. Averill, an officer of ability, 
 and the force consisted of six regiments of cavalry and 
 a battery. The number was estimated by Gen. Stuart 
 at "three thousand in the saddle." 
 
 On the 17th of March, Averill crossed at Kellev's 
 Ford, and was met there by Stuart, with eight hundred 
 men of Fitz Lee, the latter commanding. An obsti- 
 nate combat followed, which lasted from morning 
 until evening. An eye-witness compared Fitz Lee's 
 little force to a small bull-dog jumping at the throat of 
 a big mastiff — ever shaken off by his powerful adver- 
 sary, but ever returning to the struggle, until the 
 larger animal's strength was worn out. Such was the 
 actual result. At sunset Averill recrossed the Eappa- 
 hannock, and gave up his expedition. He had left 
 "the roads strewed with dead men and horses." Stu- 
 art telegraphed to Gen. Lee ; but side by side with the 
 dead Federalists were some of the bravest men of the 
 Southern cavalry. Pelham fell here leading a charge 
 — the exact deatli he would have chosen. That alone 
 was worth the expedition. 
 
CHANCELLOmVILLE. 171 
 
 The lii-st move of Gen. nooker had thus " come to 
 grief," bnt greater events were on the march. By dil- 
 igent attention, he had thoroughly reorganized his 
 army, checked desertion, broken bad officers, promoted 
 good ones, re-equipped the whole force, and made of 
 the machine broken to pieces at Fredericksburg, a pow- 
 erful and complete war-engine, which promised to 
 crush everything in its path. 
 
 This force consisted of seven ariiiy coi'ps, numbering 
 in all, say Federal official reports, one hundred and 
 twenty thousand infantry and artillery, twelve thousand 
 cavalry, and more tlian four hundred guns ; with this, 
 it was hoped by the authorities at Washington that 
 Gen. Hooker would be able to overwhelm his oppo- 
 nent, Gen. Lee. 
 
 Lee had remained at Fredericksburg, with small 
 bodies posted opposite the upper fords, in the vicinity 
 of Chancellorsville. Li April, only a portion of his 
 army was present — Longstreet had been sent on an 
 expedition to Suffolk, on the south side of James Kiver, 
 and had no part in the great combats of the Avilderness. 
 Lee's force on the Rappahannock was thus danger- 
 ously small. It amounted in all to about forty-thou- 
 sand infantry, and seven thousand cavalry and artillery.* 
 
 * "Our stren^h at Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg: 
 
 Anderson and McLaws 13,000 
 
 Jackson (Hill, Eodes, Trimble) 21,000 
 
 Early (Fredericksburg) 6,000 
 
 40,000 
 Cavalry and artillery , 7,000 
 
 47,000" 
 ^M8. of Cd. Walter K Taylm-, A A. O. of the Army. 
 
172 CnANCELLOnSVILLE. 
 
 The opposing armies thus numbered respectively 
 one Imndred and thirty-two thousand, and forty-seven 
 thousand of all arms of the service; that is, nearly 
 three to one. 
 
 The plan of Gen. Hooker, as we have said, was 
 admirable. Three of his army coi-ps, under Gen. 
 Sedffwick, were to make a feint of crossins^ at Freder- 
 icksburg, while with the other tliree the commanding 
 General, in pei'son, would cross the upper Rappalian- 
 nock into Culpeper, advance to the Hapidan, pass over 
 that river, and push on to Chancelloi*sville. Then the 
 last of his army coi*ps — Couch's Second Corps — 
 would cross at United States Ford, thus uncovered; 
 Sedgwick would return to the north bank at Freder- 
 icksburg, inarch up the river, and pass again to the 
 south bank at United States Ford — thus Hooker's 
 whole arm}' would be massed near Chancellorsville, 
 directly upon the flank of his adversaiy. 
 
 And this was not all. While the infantry thus 
 advanced to the great grapple of decisive battle, the 
 cavalry was to co-operate. Ten thousand horsemen, 
 under Stoneman, were to pass through Culpeper, cross 
 the Kapidan, near Eaccoon Ford, push on for Gor- 
 donsville, destroy the Central and Fredericksburg 
 Railroads in the rear of Lee ; and, by thus cut ting off 
 communication with Hichmond, prevent Longstreet's 
 coming up, and starve the Southern army. If bayonets 
 and cannon did not do the work, want of bread and 
 meat would, and Lee would certainly be checkmated 
 or destroyed. "Man proposes — God disposes." 
 
 In the last days of April, Gen. Hooker began to 
 move. Xever had a more imposing army sliaken the 
 
CHANCELLORSVILLE. 173 
 
 earth of the western World with its tread. From the 
 forests of the Happahannock emerged what seemed 
 endless colnmns of troops, bristling with bayonets ; ban- 
 ners waved, bngles sonnded, tlie wlieels of four hun- 
 dred pieces of artillery, and the hoofs of twelve thou- 
 sand hoi-ses, startled the bleak fields of Culpeper, just 
 emerging from the snows of winter. Hooker crossed 
 the Rappahannock at Kelley's ford on canvass pon- 
 toons, drove Stuart's small cavalry force before him, 
 as the whirlwind sweeps the dry leaves, and pushed on 
 steadily to the Rapidan, wliich his column waded 
 through, all night, by the glare of bonfires — the water 
 up to the men's shoulders. 
 
 Pari passic, the great cslyslIvj column had moved 
 across Culpeper. With ten thousand horsemen, Gen. 
 Stoneman made straight for Gordonsville, opposed only , 
 by a fcAv hundred men, imder William H. F. Lee, for 
 the stout cavalier Stuart had other work before him. 
 He was hanging on the front and flanks of Hooker, 
 harassing, impeding, watching him, and sending cou- 
 rier after courier with intelligence to Gen. Lee, at Fred- 
 ericksburg. Thus Stoneman had in front of him only 
 a handful of opponents — a fly easy to brush away, it 
 would seem. And, in truth, young Gen. Lee had to 
 fight and fall back. He could do no more against 
 Stoneman's ten thousand, and the great invading col- 
 umn of blue horsemen hastened on, penetrating into 
 the very heart of Virginia, south of the Bapidan. 
 
 On Thursday, then, the last day of April, this was 
 
 the situation: Hooker approaching Chancellorsville, 
 
 with fom- infantry corps — for Couch had crossed at 
 
 United States Ford — his great force of cavalry driv- 
 
 15* 
 
174: CHANCELLORSVILLE. 
 
 ing forward, like a sword's point, into the heart of the 
 State; Sedgwick threatening at Fredericksbnrg with 
 three more corps of infantry; Lee waiting, with his 
 forty thousand, for the enemy to fully develope their 
 intentions. 
 
 Stuart, falling back, and fighting step by step, day 
 and night, through the "Wilderness," had at once 
 di^-ined the plan of Hooker. lie had predicted truly. 
 The tenor of every dispatch which he sent to Lee was, 
 " They are massing, and mean to fight near Chancel- 
 lors^dlle." 
 
 So, on tliis night of Thursday, everything went ad- 
 mirably for Gen. Hooker. He swam with the stream. 
 ]S^ever was commander more joyous. He could not 
 conceal from his ofiicers the delight which he experi- 
 enced. He was radient, and victory hovered in the 
 air for him. 
 
 "The rebel army," he exclaimed to those around 
 him, "is now the legitimate property of the Army of 
 the Potomac ! They may as well pack up their haver- 
 sacks, and make for Richmond! — and I shall be after 
 them ! " 
 
 To his troops, he said in a general order: 
 
 " The enemy must either ingloriously fly, or come out 
 from behind his defences, and give us battle on our 
 own gi'ound, where certain destruction awaits him ! " 
 
 There were those of his ofiicers, doubtless, who lis- 
 tened thoughtfully, rather than with enthusiasm, to 
 these juvenile ebullitions. At Cold Harbor, Manassas, 
 Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg, they had felt the 
 sword's point of the silent cavalier, in the grey cape, 
 commanding the Southern army. That obstinately cool 
 
CHANCELLOBSVILLE, 175 
 
 personage was still at Fredericksburg, had not issued 
 any orders in reference to "packing haversacks;" 
 seemed resolved to stand stubbornly, instead of " flying 
 ingloriously ; " and did not yet appear to regard his 
 good old army as " the legitimate property of the Army 
 of the Potomac." In fact, his movements were aston-* 
 ishingly opposed to such an idea. The Telegraph 
 Hoad, southward from Fredericksburg, was an excel- 
 lent highway of retreat ; but Lee seemed to be igno- 
 rant of its existence ; Stoneman's ten thousand were 
 streaming on to cut his communications, but he ap- 
 peared wholly unaware of the fact. Ilooker was clos- 
 ing in upon him, with that enormous cordon, but the 
 eyes of the old lion, thus caught in the battue, were 
 never clearer or more serene. Did he despise his 
 adversary? Did he reflect that to wrap a cord around 
 a sword-blade is as dangerous to the cord as to the 
 sword? There is a grand "reciprocity" in war. 
 
 "General," an officer said to Hoke, that brave 
 Korth Carolinian, at Cold Harbor, " the Yankees are 
 very near you, yonder ! " 
 
 " I^ot nearer," replied Hoke, " than I am to tliem ! " 
 
 That Lee regarded the situation at Chancellorsville 
 much as Hoke did that at Cold Harbor, is proved by 
 the fact that his first step was to lessen the distance 
 between himself and his adversary. He did not re- 
 treat ; he went to offer Hooker battle in the Wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 Let us look at this ground where " certain destruc- 
 tion awaited " the leader of the Confederates. Hooker 
 had halted in the Wilderness, not far from Chancel- 
 lorsville, — a curious spot in a curious country. Yir- 
 
1T6 CHANCELLOUSVILLE. 
 
 ginia has no locality stranger than that sombre " TVil- 
 demess." There all is wild, desolate, and lugubrious. 
 Thicket, undergrowth and jungle stretch for miles, 
 impenetrable and untouched. Narrow roads wind on 
 forever between melancholy masses of stunted and 
 gnarled oak, and the hiss of the moccasin in the ooze 
 is echoed by the weird cry of the whipporwill, lost in 
 the shadowy depths of the wood. Little simlight shines 
 there. The face of nature is di-eary and sad. It was 
 so before the battle; it is not more cheerful to-day, 
 when, as you ride along, you see fi-agments of shell, 
 rotting knapsacks, nisty gun-barrels, bleached bones, 
 and grinning skulls. 
 
 Into this jungle Gen. Hooker penetrated. It was 
 the wolf in his den, ready to tear any one who ap- 
 proached. A battle there seemed impossible. iSTeither 
 side could see its antagonist. Artillery could not move ; 
 cavalry could not oj^erate; the very infantry had to 
 flatten their bodies to glide between the stunted trunks. 
 That an army of one hmidred and twenty thousand 
 men should have chosen that spot to fight forty thou- 
 sand ; and not only chosen it, but made it a hundred 
 times more impenetrable by felling trees, erecting 
 breastworks, disposing artillery, en masse^ to sweep 
 every road and bridle path which led to Chancelloi-s- 
 ville, — this fact seemed incredible. 
 
 What did Gen. Hooker mean by, '' I will be after 
 them," — that is, the Confederate army ? He did not 
 seem to be " after them,'' thus dead-locked in the Chan- 
 cellorsville thicket. The sudden roar of artillery from 
 the side of Fredericksburg, reverberating grimly in the 
 
CRANCELLORSVILLE. 177 
 
 tangled depths of the thickets, seemed to indicate that 
 the Confederates were " after " him ! 
 
 That sullen thunder began on Friday afternoon, the 
 day after the arrival of the Federal army at Chancel- 
 lorsville. Up to that moment Gen. Hooker's plans had 
 been admirable, and were executed with the skill and 
 promptness which compel the eagles of victory to perch 
 upon the standards of an army. The whole programme, 
 conceived by Hooker in his tent, had been translated 
 into action by his excellent Lieutenants. Stoneman 
 was near the Central Eailroad ; Sedgwick was threaten- 
 ing to cross at Fredericksburg, and holding Lee there. 
 Hooker was rooted at Chancellorsville, in an absolute 
 fortress, and two of his army corps had pushed forward 
 on the road to Fredericksburg to meet Lee, if he 
 advanced. 
 
 There was the place to fight, not in the jungle ; and 
 every consideration of military science demanded that 
 Hooker should mass and deliver battle there. The 
 country was open, rolling, — a great plateau whereon 
 troops of all arms could be manoeuvred. The spot 
 held on Friday afternoon was well out on the road to 
 Fredericksburg, and virtually commanded Banks's ford, 
 by which Gen. Sedgwick could cross the river, and 
 thus make the whole army a unit. One march during 
 Friday night would have effected that ; on the morning 
 of Saturday, Gen. Hooker's one hundred and twenty 
 thousand men and four hundred guns would have been 
 drawn up on that commanding position, before half of 
 Lee's force could have arrived. 
 
 We are not criticising Gen. Hooker for the pleasure 
 of criticising him. Look at the map. A beardless 
 
178 CHANCELLOBSVILLE. 
 
 cadet would have stayed there, hurried up Sedgwick, 
 massed the anny, and fought where numbers could be 
 manoeuvred and made to tell. Hooker ordered the 
 two corps to fall back to Chancellorsville ; gave no 
 reasons when his officers remonstrated ; he had decided 
 to fight in the jungle. 
 
 From the moment when the plateau was abandoned, 
 everything was changed. Good fortune deserted Gen. 
 Hooker, or rather, he repulsed it. He threw away the 
 pearl, and the mailed hand of Lee caught it as it fell. 
 
 The Confederate commander had discovered every- 
 thing now, and his resolution was formed in a moment. 
 Sedgwick's attack on Fredericksburg was seen to be a 
 mere feint. The real assault was on the Confederate 
 left from above ; and, leaving only about six thousand 
 men. at Fredericksburg, Lee advanced to give battle to 
 Hooker. 
 
 Jackson, commanding the advance force, had already 
 moved up, reaching Tabernacle Church, a few miles 
 from Chancellorsville, on Friday. There he struck up 
 against the two corps which had advanced to the pla- 
 teau, and attacked them, but effected little. Still, it 
 was in consequence of this attack from the head of 
 Lee's column that Hooker recalled his troops, and 
 concentrated his whole force in the Wilderness. 
 
 At nio:ht Lee arrived. A counsel of war was held. 
 Jackson had seen at a glance that a front attack upon 
 Hooker was an impossibility in his impregnable posi- 
 tion, and the result of the consultation was the great 
 movement against the Federal right. 
 
 The movement, we say, — not a movement. Who- 
 ever has heard of the battle of Chancelloi-sville haa 
 
CHANCELLOBSVILLE. 179 
 
 heard of that gigantic blow which the hand of Jackson 
 struck just before the mighty arm was paralyzed. The 
 last exhibition of his military genius, it was, perhaps, 
 the greatest and most glorious. So heavy and mortal 
 was the stroke which he delivered, that the noise of it 
 echoed throughout the world.' 
 
 At dawn Jackson was moving to accomplish his 
 design, with about half Lee's force — twenty-one 
 thousand men ; with the remnant Lee would make de- 
 monstrations on the enemy's front and left, while the 
 great plan was struck at his right. 
 
 From this moment until Sunday, the chief interest 
 of the battle of Chancellorsville concentrates upon 
 * Jackson. 
 
 A word is necessary to explain clearly Hooker's 
 position. He was drawn up near Chancellorsville, 
 protected by heavy earthworks, resembling the two 
 sides of a square. One side — the right wing — 
 fronted south ; the other side- — the left wing — fronted 
 nearly east, covering the Old Turnpike and Plank 
 Road, running from Fredericksburg westward. This 
 order of battle was e\ddently formed on the supposi- 
 tion that, coming fi'om Fredericksburg, Lee would 
 either attack his left or his front ; it was not supposed 
 possible that the Confederate commander, with his 
 small army, would venture a movement so audacious 
 as an assault against his opponent's right and rear. 
 
 And yet that was precisely the move detennined up- 
 on. It was hazardous ; it was more than hazardous — 
 reckless. But forty thousand men opposed to one 
 hundred and twenty thousand, are obliged to be reck- 
 less. For the rest there was one element of the 
 
180 CHAJNCELLOESVILLE. 
 
 problem which counted for much. The attacking 
 cohunn was led by Jackson. 
 
 One of the military maxims of this soldier was, 
 "mystery is the secret of success." The movement 
 now to be made was defeated, if discovered ; fi*om the 
 moment when Gen. Hooker di\'ined the scheme, all 
 was lost. ISTot the day only — the army also. Lee was 
 dividing his small force in face of overwhelming num- 
 bers ; that fact known, he was gone, or ought to have 
 been. 
 
 Jackson's aim was thus to deceive the enemy com- 
 pletely — to elude his vigilance, and fall like a thunder- 
 bolt from a clear sky, when it is least expected. He 
 had to pass through the woods across the entire 
 Federal front, attain their right flank unawares, and 
 overwhelm it before it could make any resistance. 
 
 He set out at dawn, moving obliquely from the 
 Plank Road, and gaining ground toward the South. 
 On his risfht flank and in front moved Stuart with Fitz 
 Lee's cavalry, masking the movement, and dridng off 
 Federal scouting parties. Along the narrow country 
 road, lost in the dense forest, the infantry tramped on 
 steadily and in silence. 
 
 At the "Furnace," a mile or tw^o from Hooker's 
 front, the movement seemed discovered. An attack 
 was made on the rear of the column, and a whole regi- 
 ment captured. Jackson ordered a portion of his 
 artillery to take position, and open fii-e. This was 
 done. Then he moved on, as if nothing had taken 
 place. 
 
 But what ought to have been a very fatal circum- 
 stance had happened. Gen. Hooker had seen him; 
 
CHANCELLOBS VILLE. 181 
 
 cavaby, infantry, artillery, all were seen; how then 
 the success of the sui-prise ? 
 
 We cannot answer that question. 
 
 When Gen. Hooker was testifying before the War 
 Committee afterwards, he said that the had discovered 
 Jackson's intended assault on his right, and had pro- 
 vided against it ; it had succeeded because his orders 
 were disobeyed."^' But pen and ink are terrible 
 things! On Saturday afternoon, just when Jackson 
 was about to strike the mortal blow at his right, Gen. 
 Ilooker wrote Sedgwick : 
 
 " We know the enemy is flying^ trying to save his 
 trains " /f 
 
 The fact appears to be that Gen. Ilooker was com- 
 pletely deceived. The road near the Furnace bends 
 southward, and Jackson's movement did resemble a 
 retreat. It was the recoil of the arm when about to 
 strike. Lee's great Lieutenant advanced without 
 pausing, attained the Brock Boad, running from 
 Spottsylvania Court-House to the Bapidan, struck into 
 it, and reached the Orange Flank Boad two or three 
 miles west of Chancellorsville. There, accompanied 
 by Fitz Lee, Jackson rode up on a hill, and saw the 
 enemy's line just in front. He was not yet far 
 enough. 
 
 " Tell my column to cross that road," he said to an 
 aid, pointing to the Flank Boad. His object was to 
 gain the Old Turnpike beyond, from which he would 
 
 * Hooker. — " My instructions were utterly and criminally disre- 
 garded."— Cond. of War, L, 137. 
 t Conduct of War, Vol. I., p. 95. 
 
 1« 
 
182 CHANCELLORSVILLE. 
 
 be able to descend straight upon the flank and rear of 
 the enemy. 
 
 Kapidly reaching the desired point, Jackson hastened 
 to form order of battle. He placed Rodes in front, 
 Colston, commanding Trimble's division, behind tlie 
 first line, and A. P. Hill's division in reserve. The 
 enemy had not discovered him. The twenty-one thou- 
 sand men had moved as though shod with the " shoes 
 of silence." At about five in the evening the line 
 swept forward through the tliicket, with a sudden 
 storm of cheers, which shook the forest. They were 
 soon upon the enemy — surprised, demoralized, un- 
 nerved from the first by this sudden and terrible on- 
 slaught. Before the tornado, nothing stood. Rodes 
 stormed the works in front of him, passed over them, 
 drove the entire Eleventh corps, who were cooking 
 their suppers, from their frying-pans and coffee-pots,^ 
 and pursued them with yells down the road, and 
 through the thicket, toward Chancellors\dlle. Colston 
 had rushed in behind, passing over the works with 
 Eodes ; the enemy had been dashed to pieces by these 
 two divisions, and were struck with panic — the Dutch, 
 soldiers yelling — artillery smashing against trees, and 
 overturning as it went off at a gallop — the whole corps 
 fleeing wildly before the avenging Nemesis upon their 
 heels. 
 
 "Throw your men into the breach!" exclaimed 
 Gen. Hooker, galloping up, and addressing an officer, 
 
 * " Their arms were stacked, and the men were away from them, 
 and scattered about for the purpose of cooking their suppers." 
 —Hooker, Conduct of War, I. p. 127. 
 
GHANCELL0R8VILLE. . 183 
 
 " receive the enemy on your bayonets — don't fire a 
 shot, they can't see yon ! " 
 
 But the injunction was too late to prevent the 
 reverse. The entire corps holding the right wing of 
 the Federal army was doubled up and crushed back — 
 a huddled mass of fugitives — on their centre, near 
 Chancellorsville. So great a blow had Jackson struck, 
 from that quarter whence it was so little expected. 
 
 The effect of it is described by Korthem writers who 
 were present. Little blood had been shed, but Gen. 
 Hooker had better have lost ten thousand men. His 
 own countrymen say that this sudden overthrow of the 
 11th Corps shook the nerve of the army — that it had a 
 fatal effect upon the morale of all. If this be untrue, 
 no explanation remains of the astounding success of 
 Stuart's attack on the next mornino'. IS^ot a man had 
 reinforced the original column of Jackson, and it drove 
 before it the whole right wing of Gen. Hooker's army 
 — his force numbering ninety-eight thousand men.* 
 
 Is further proof needed of the effect of that great 
 blow ? Take the statement of a Xorthem writer : 
 
 "During the night [of Saturday, after Jackson's 
 attack,] the engineers had traced out a new hne, thi^ee- 
 quarters of a mile to the rear of Chancellors\411e, 
 towards the river, and covering the roads to United 
 States and Ely's Fords." 
 
 * Eenolds's Corps was witlidrawii from Sedg-;vick on Saturday, 
 and reached ChancellorsYille that night, leaving- only twenty-two 
 thousand men with Sedgwick. This made Hooker's force, at 
 Chancellorsville ninety-eight thousand, the force attacked on Sun- 
 day morning. 
 
184 CHANCELLORSVILLE. 
 
 » 
 
 Gen. Hooker had been driven already. To this 
 " new line " he retreated at eleven next day. f 
 
 Night fell as Jackson continued to press the Federal 
 right wing on Chancellorsville. He approached now 
 the end of his great life. Death's skeleton finger was 
 stretched out to touch him in mid-career; but the 
 lamp so soon to be extinguished burned with a light 
 more dazzling than ever before. Jackson's original 
 attack was daring; his scheme now had in it some- 
 thing superb, and worthy the last hours of a great 
 leader. It was nothing else than to extend his left, 
 sweep across the roads which led to the Rappahannock, 
 and cut off Hooker's entire army. 
 
 With about twenty thousand men, he was going to 
 place himself in the path of nearly one hundred thou- 
 sand, and say, " Surrender, or you are dead ! " 
 
 He never did so. His last hour was near. He had 
 ordered his lines to be dressed for the final advance — 
 Hodes and Colston to yield the front, giving place to 
 Hill's fresh troops — and now rode down the turnpike 
 towards Chancellorsville, less than a mile distant. It 
 was a strange locality, a strange scene, and a strange 
 night. Upon the dusky thickets skirting the road, the 
 moon, wading through clouds, threw a misty and som- 
 bre light. The woods were full of moving figures, 
 which resembled phantoms; the whippoorwills cried 
 from the undergrowth; not a gun was heard; and 
 from Chancellorsville came only a confused hum and 
 murmur. 
 
 Jackson, with his staff, rode forward to reconnoitre, 
 
 t Conduct of tlie War. I., 127. 
 
CHANCELLOBSVILLE. 185 
 
 and stopped in the road listening. Then suddenly a 
 gun was fired in the thicket — and at that sound the 
 troops clutched and leveled their weapons. Jackson 
 turned to ride back ; but had scarcely done so when a 
 volley was fired upon him by his own men from the 
 right. He turned to gallop into the thicket on the 
 left, and then came the fatal stroke The men there 
 had been ordered to guard against Federal calvary, and 
 they took Jackson's party for cavalry. Kneeling on 
 the right knee, they fired upon him at less than thirty 
 paces : wounded him mortally, and his horse wheeling 
 round, darted violently under a bough, which struck 
 him in the face, tore his cap off, and nearly dragged 
 him from the saddle. But he caught the bridle with 
 the bleeding fingers through which a bullet had torn ; 
 guided the animal into the road, and there fell into 
 the arms of one of his staff ofiicers, who laid him upon 
 the earth. The firing had ceased as suddenly as it 
 had begun, but it had been fatal to many. Some were 
 dead, some wounded, some carried by their frightened 
 horses into the enemy's lines — one ofiicer was shot dead, 
 his horse ran off, and the corpse, with the feet still in 
 the stirrups, was dragged to Chancellorsville. The 
 dead "went fast" there I 
 
 ' Jackson was borne to the rear, in the midst of a ver- 
 itable hurricane of shell and canister which the enemy 
 directed upon the road from their epaulements in front 
 of Chancellorsville. On his way to the rear. Gen. 
 Pender met him, and expressed the apprehension that 
 he would be compelled to fall back from his position, 
 Jackson's eye flashed. 
 
186 CEANCELLORSVILLE. 
 
 ''Ton must hold your ground, Gen. Pender!" he 
 exclaimed, " you must hold your ground, sir ! " 
 
 That was the last order of Stonewall Jackson on the 
 field. Ten days afterw^ards he was dead. 
 
 Among his last words had been, " A. P. Hill, pre- 
 pare for action ! " 
 
 That is to say, his last thought upon earth was his 
 great design that night in the Wilderness woods. 
 Hill's fi*esh men were to make the great movement 
 aimino^ to cut off Hooker from the river : and in his 
 dying hours Jackson murmured ; 
 
 " H I had not been wounded, or had had one more 
 hour of daylight, I would have cut off the enemy 
 from the road to United States Ford — we would have 
 had them entirelv surrounded would have been oblis^ed 
 to surrender or cut their way out — they had no other 
 alternative ! " 
 
 But the great arm was paralyzed, the fiery brain 
 chilled, and Hill, second in conunand, had also been 
 wounded, nearly at the same moment with Jackson. 
 The scheme was thus abandoned, and one of the most 
 wonderful tableaus in military history lost — that of 
 twenty-thousand " cutting off " one hundred thousand. 
 
 Jackson had thus disappeared. The corps which he 
 had led to victory was without a head. Who was to 
 grasp the baton of the great Marshal of Lee, as it fell 
 from the bleeding hand? Lying faint and pale on his 
 litter, Jackson's thoughts turned to Stuart, who had 
 gone with his cavalry to attack a Federal camp on the 
 road to Ely's ford. Stuart was just about to open his 
 assault when a messao;e reached him. He came back 
 at full gallop through the darkness, and Hill, wounded. 
 
CHANCELLORSYILLE. 18Y 
 
 turned over the command of the corps to him. Jack- 
 son was some miles in the rear now, at Wilderness 
 Tavern, and Stuart — prevented by the exigences of 
 the hour from going to him — sent to ask his plans and 
 dispositions. 
 
 "Go back to Gen. Stuart," murmured Jackson, 
 " and tell him to act upon his own judgment and do 
 what he thinks best; I have implicit confidence in 
 him." 
 
 Stuart then took command in person, marshaled his 
 lines, and made every preparation for a renewal of the 
 assault at dawn. The infantry, long used to the quiet 
 and slow-moving figure of Stonewall Jackson, in his 
 old dingy uniform, were now startled by the appearance 
 of the young cavalier, with his floating plume and viva- 
 cious movements, galloping to and fro, with his drawn 
 sabre gleaming in the moonlight. Whatever they may 
 have thought of him as an infantry leader, they knew 
 that there was fight in him, and all prepared for a hard 
 struggle. 
 
 Before daylight Stuart was ready. It was not neces- 
 sary to await an express order from Lee. There was 
 one thing, and one thing only to do — to attack at 
 dawn. 
 
 All the evening, during Jackson's attack, Lee had 
 thundered against the enemy's front, as a diversion. 
 The intelligence of his great Lieutenant's complete 
 success, and of his fall, came at the same moment. 
 Lee's grief was poignant, and he murmured, " I have 
 lost my right arm ! " 
 
 The messenger, bringing the information, added that 
 Jackson had intended to " press the enemy on Sunday." 
 
188 CHANCELLORSVILLE. 
 
 At these words, Gen. Lee rose from the straw on which 
 he was lying, WTapped in his blanket, under a breadth 
 of canvass, and exclaimed, with glowing cheeks : 
 
 " These people shall be pressed to-day." 
 
 It was then past midnight. At dawn, Stuart ad- 
 vanced to the assault; the forces of Anderson and 
 McLaws at the same moment attacking the enemy's 
 front. 
 
 • Stuart's assault with infantry had in it the rush and 
 impetus of his cavalry charge. Leading his line in 
 person, with drawn sabre and floating plume, he resem- 
 bled, said one who saw him, the dead Henry of Navarre, 
 plunging amid the smoke of Ivry. But even in this 
 moment of decisive struggle, when the two great armies 
 had grappled in that mortal wrestle, the spirit of wild 
 gayety, which fired Stuart's blood in action, only flamed 
 out more superbly. At the head of the great corps of 
 Jackson, and leading the decisive charge in a pitched 
 battle against triple lines of breastworks, bristling with 
 infantry and cannon, Stuart's sonorous voice was heard 
 singing, " Old Joe Hooker, will you come out of the 
 "Wilderness ! " 
 
 There was another sound which had in it something 
 more tragic and menacing, as it vibrated above the 
 thunder of the guns. That was the shout of ten thou- 
 sand voices, as the lines rushed together : 
 
 " Remember Jackson ! " 
 
 Driven headlong, as it were, by that burning thought 
 of their great leader lying faint and bleeding, not far 
 from them, the men resembled furies. Nothing stopped 
 them. The Federal artillery ploughed gaps through 
 them — they closed up and continued to rush forward. 
 
CUANCELLORSVILLE. 189 
 
 The colours were struck down ; as they fell, quick 
 hands seized them, and again they floated and were 
 borne on. Wliole regiments fired away their last 
 rounds of cartridges ; but they stood and met death, 
 falling where they faced the enemy, or continued to 
 advance as before. This is not the statement of a 
 Southern writer only. 
 
 " From the large brick house which gives the name to 
 this vicinity," says a writer of the Korth, " the enemy 
 could be seen sweeping slowly but confidently, deter- 
 minedly, and surely, through the clearings which ex- 
 tended in fi'ont. I^Tothinff could excite more admiration 
 for the qualities of the veteran soldier, than the manner 
 in which the enemy swept out, as they moved steadily 
 onward, the forces which were opposed to them. We 
 say it reluctantly, and for the first time, that the enemy 
 have shown the finest qualities, and we acknowledge, 
 on this occasion, their superiority in the open field to 
 our own men. They delivered their fire with precision, 
 and were apparently inflexible and immovable under 
 the storm of bullets and shell which they were con- 
 stantly receiving. Coming to a piece of timber, which 
 was occupied by a division of our o^m men, half the 
 number were detailed to clear the woods. It seemed 
 certain that here they would be repulsed, but they 
 marched right through the wood, driving our own sol- 
 diers out, who delivered their fire and fell back, halted 
 again, fired and fell back as before, seeming to concede 
 to the enemy, as a matter of course, tlie superiority- 
 which they evidently felt themselves. Our own men 
 fought w^ell. There was no lack of courage, but an 
 evident feeling that they were destined to be beaten, 
 
190 CEANCELLORSYILLE. 
 
 and the only thing for them to do was to fire and 
 retreat." 
 
 Stuart pressed straight on. At the same time the 
 force under Gen. Lee in pei*son, on the right, was 
 thrown vigorously against the Federal front. In the 
 lugubrious thickets all the . thunders seemed unloosed. 
 The moment had come when, breast to breast, the an- 
 tagonists were to grapple in the death struggle. 
 
 Stuart decided the event speedily by one of those 
 conceptions which show the possession of military 
 genius. There were many in the Southern army who 
 said that he was " only a cavalry ofiicer." After this 
 morning, he could claim to be " an artilleiy officer," 
 too. On the right of his line was a hill, which his 
 quick eye had soon discovered ; and this was plainly 
 the key of the position. Stuart massed there about 
 thirty pieces of artillery, and opened all at once a 
 heavy fire upon the Federal centre. 
 
 That fire decided the event. Before that hurricane 
 striking their centre, the Federal line began to waver 
 and lose heart. Gen. Slocum sent word to Gen. Hooker 
 that his front was being swept away — he must be re- 
 inforced. 
 
 " I cannot make soldiers or ammunition ! " was the 
 sullen reply of Hooker, who, stationed at the Chancel- 
 lorsville House, witnessed the battle. 
 
 Soon afterwards, a cannon ball struck a pillar of the 
 porch upon which he stood ; it crashed down, and Gen. 
 Hooker was stunned, and temporarily disabled. He 
 was borne off, and had hardly disappeared when his 
 lines gave way. 
 
 Then followed a spectacle in which the horrors of 
 
CHANCELLOBSVILLE. 191 
 
 war seemed to culminate. The forest was on fire the 
 
 Chancellorsville House on fire. From the forest rose 
 quick tongues of flame — from the windows of the 
 houses spouted dense columns of smoke, swept away by 
 the wind. In the depths of those thickets, dead bodies 
 were being consumed, and wounded men were being 
 burned to death. Fire, smoke, blood, uproar — trium- 
 phant cheers and dying groans were mingled. In front 
 were the Confederates pressing on with shouts of '^ Ee- 
 member Jackson !" — retreating rapidly towards the 
 river, were the defeated forces of Gen. Hooker. An- 
 derson and McLaws had connected now with Stuart's 
 right — and at ten o'clock Chancelloi-sville was in Lee's 
 possession. 
 
 The enemy had disappeared. They had fallen back 
 rapidly to a second line in rear. Here heavy earth- 
 works, with arms stretching out towards the two rivers, 
 had been thro^vn up, to protect the anny from another 
 assault. To a pass so desperate had the Federal Gen- 
 eral come ! With his one hundred thousand men,, he 
 was retreating before Lee's thirty or forty thousand, 
 who pushed him to the wall. 
 
 And yet a singular dispatch was sent by him, on the 
 afternoon of the same day, to Sedgwick ; 
 
 " I have driven the enemy, and all that is wanted is 
 for you to come up and complete Lee's destruction."* 
 
 To a cool observer, it would have seemed that Lee 
 was about to complete Hooker's. His right and left 
 wings were now united ; he presented to the enemy an 
 unoroken front, along the Old Turnpike, facing north- 
 
 * Swinton's " Army of the Potomac," p. 306. 
 
192 CHANCELLOBSVILLE. 
 
 ward — and the signal for a renewal of the assault 
 trembled on Lee's lips. It was not uttered. Xews 
 came which checked it. Gen. Sedgwick, with his 
 twent3'-two thousand men, had crossed the river at 
 Fredericksburg; assaulted Maiye's hill, which was 
 held by artillery, and a few regiments; carried the 
 heights in spite of desperate resistance from the Con- 
 federates, who fought, hand to hand, over their guns, 
 for the crest — then, driving the six thousand men of 
 Early and Barksdale before him. Gen. Sedgwick 
 pushed westward over the Plank Road towards Chan- 
 celloi*sville. 
 
 Hooker charged all his woes on the delay of Sedg- 
 wick — that of course. Yet the blow was well struck, 
 and quickly struck. " It was about eleven o'clock in 
 the morning when he carried the heights," said Sedg- 
 wick; and those heights were Marye's hill, which 
 Hooker liimself, on the 13th December, 1862, had n®t 
 been able to carry at all. At that time he described 
 them as a " fortification," " masonry," a " mountain of 
 rock " — all that was impregnable. The stone wall at 
 the foot of them was an insm'mountable obstacle, he 
 said, which no artillery could make " a breach " in — no 
 infantry could storm. His own attack. Gen. Hooker 
 informed the War Committee, had been resolute and 
 stubborn, but the place was impregnable. ISTow, when 
 Sedgwick, that good soldier, took an hour to storm it, 
 he " failed in a prompt compliance with my orders," 
 and " in my judgment, Gen. Sedgwick did not obey 
 the spirit of my order." * 
 
 * Hooker, in Conduct of tlie War, I. , 130-1. 
 
CHANCELLORSVILLE. 193 
 
 At least he stormed the famous heights ; drove the 
 Confederates before him ; advanced straight on Chan- 
 cellors ville ; and at the moment when Lee was about 
 to crush Hooker, or drive him into the river, the news 
 came that Sedgwick was near Salem, a few miles from 
 him, advancing rapidly to attack his flank and rear. 
 
 It is hard to read the unprinted pages of the Book 
 of Fate. All military speculation goes for what it is 
 worth, only. But, to a fair critic, it would seem that 
 the presence of SedgivicJc, there and then, saved 
 Hooker from, "destruction," and deserved something 
 very different fi-om denunciation. 
 
 Thus Lee was compelled to forego for the moment 
 his attack. Wilcox's brigade, at Banks's Ford, threw 
 itself in Sedgwick's front, and Lee detached a divi- 
 sion to reinforce it. Thus Hooker, for the time, could 
 draw his breath and get ready — Sedgwick had saved 
 him. 
 
 Mondav dawned, and found the armies in a curious 
 position. Hooker forced back on the Rappahannock ; 
 Lee about to attack him ; Sedgwick advancing to attack 
 Lee ; Early again holding the Fredericksburg heights 
 in Sedgwick's rear. 
 
 Thus Sedgwick was posted between Lee and Early ; 
 Lee between Sedgwick and Hooker. What would 
 follow ? 
 
 Before Monday night that question was decided. At 
 
 six in the evening, Lee threw himself upon Sedgwick 
 
 at Salem heights, closed in in stubborn battle with that 
 
 resolute opponent ; forced him back ; and at nightfall 
 
 drove him across the river at Banks's Ford, where a 
 
 pontoon had been laid to assist his retreat. Short 
 17 
 
194: CEANCELLOBSYILLE. 
 
 Tvork had tliiis been made of the twenty-two tliousand. 
 They were routed, flying — over their heads, as they 
 hm-ried across the river, bni-st the Southern shell, and 
 the hiss of bullets hastened them. On Tuesday, Lee 
 returned towards Chancellorsville, to finish Hooker. 
 
 That commander seemed now completely demoral- 
 ized. Sedgwick defeated, he determined to recross the 
 Happahannock, and abandon the whole campaign. 
 And yet that determination was strange. His force 
 still more than doubled that of his adversary. Lee's 
 loss had been ten thousand, leaving him in all thirty 
 thousand. Hooker's loss had been seventeen thousand, 
 lea^ino: him in all one hundred and three thousand. 
 With Sedgwick brought over the river on Tuesday, as 
 he might have been. Gen. Hooker was still able to con- 
 front thirty thousand men with one hundred thousand. 
 
 Those were the respective numbers of the two 
 armies on Tuesday, the 5th of May — about three to 
 one. It is true that the thirty thousand were flushed 
 with victory, and the one hundred thousand demoral- 
 ized with defeat. The cavalry, which were hardly en- 
 gaged, are omitted in these estimates. 
 
 His own countrymen declared that Gen. Hooker 
 was the most hopeless individual in the whole army. 
 He seemed painfully to lack the mens cequa in arduis, 
 that first of all military traits. He was going to re- 
 treat, p 
 
 Eetreat ? He who had foretold the " certain des- 
 truction" of his adversary, unless he " ingloriously 
 fled!" Who had said that the Army of Xorthern 
 Yirginia " might as well pack up their knapsacks " — 
 that they were " now on the legitimate property of the 
 
CHANCELLOnSYILLK 195 
 
 Ai-my of the Potomac ? " Who had coolly described 
 Lee's army as made np of a " rank and tile yastly in- 
 ferior to our own intellectually and physically ! "^ 
 This officer retreat^ when he had still three to one ! 
 Wlien only thirty thousand men confronted one hun- 
 di'ed thousand, " intellectually and physically " supe- 
 rior to them ! The thing was incredible. 
 
 Yet so it was. To the remonstrances of liis brave 
 officers, Gen. Hooker replied by erecting a great cres- 
 cent-shaped earthwork, three miles long, from river to 
 river, in the bend, and by lapng his pontoons, on which 
 pine boughs were strewed to prevent the rumble of 
 artillery wheels. 
 
 This was done on Tuesday night. When Lee ad- 
 vanced on Wednesday moraing to administer the coup 
 de grace, his adversary had disappeared. He had left 
 behind him fourteen pieces of artillery, twenty thou- 
 sand stand of arms, his dead and his wounded. 
 
 On the next day Gen. Hooker issued a general order 
 to the troops, in which he said : 
 
 "The Major-General commanding tenders to his 
 army his congratulations on its achievements of the 
 last seven days. . . . The events of the last week 
 may well cause the heart of every officer and soldier 
 of the army to swell with pride. We have added new 
 laurels to our former renown." 
 
 Does the reader imagine that we have made a slight 
 mistake and quoted Gen. Lee's order instead of Gen. 
 Hooker's? No — Gen. Hooker wrote that ! Such was 
 the battle of Chancellorsville. It is only necessary to 
 add that the cavalry expedition under Gen. Stoneman 
 
 * Gen, Hooker's Statement. Cond. of War. 
 
196 CHANCELLORSVILLE, 
 
 effected almost nothing; and liis liorsemen, pursued 
 and harrassed by Gen. AV. H. F. Lee, hastened back 
 and recrossed the Rappahannock. 
 
 The great struggle was thus over. The large army 
 of Gen. Hooker had retreated beyond the Rappahan- 
 nock, demoralized and shattered. Victory hovered 
 above the Confederates in the tangled thickets of the 
 Wilderness. But alas! the greatest of the Southern 
 soldiers had fallen. 
 
 Jackson was dying — soon he was dead. When the 
 wave of death swept over that great standard-bearer, 
 and carried him away, the red flag began to sink in 
 the stormy waters. Inch by inch it went under — at 
 Gettysburg, Spottsylvania, and Petersburg. At Ap- 
 pomattox Court House it disappeared beneath the 
 waves. 
 
 That was spared the great soul, who had never seen 
 it droop. 
 
 When he fell on that moonlight night in the Wil- 
 derness, it was floating still ! 
 
Yin. 
 
 * GETTYSBUKG. 
 
 Theee are spots of the earth's surface, over which 
 the Angel of Death seems to hover. Of these is the 
 town of Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania — unknown in the 
 month of June, 1863, but in July famous as that other 
 insignificant hamlet of Waterloo, in July, 1815. 
 
 "Gettysburg! Gettysburg!" — that is a cry which 
 has escaped from many a bleeding heart. And the 
 hearts which bled most have been Southern hearts. 
 For here, not only was the most precious blood of the 
 South poured out like water — here the fate of her 
 great sovereignties was decided. Gettysburg deter- 
 mined, for long years to come, at least, the destiny of 
 the North American Continent. Here was the real 
 end of the great struggle, not at Appomattox. On the 
 slopes of Roimd Top an^ Cemetery Hills, those two 
 Titans, the Army of ]S"orthern Virginia and the Army 
 of the Potomac, so long warring on each other, grap- 
 pled in a life and death wrestle. And the Southern 
 Enceladus was thrown. The fall broke his stren2:th. 
 All the movements of the giant thereafter were the 
 mere tossings and writhings of the great body, weighed 
 down by the mountain pressing on it. When Long- 
 street was thrown back from Eound Top, and the Yii- 
 
 (197) 
 
198 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 ginians under Pickett dashed themselves in pieces 
 vainly against Cemetery Hill, all was over. 
 
 Let us be imderstood. The Army of Northern Vir- 
 ginia was not shattered. In July as in June, Lee ]iad 
 an army and a powerful and unbroken one. The tem- 
 pered steel of that great weapon could stand more than 
 Gettysburg; and the proof is, that after the fight, 
 Meade, that hardy soldier, kept beyond its sweep. Tlie 
 question was not of the army's morale fi*om that time 
 forward, but of the country^ s. Why this access of des- 
 pair? Was it want of confidence in the Executive and 
 heads of Departments? Was it a con\'iction of mis- 
 management, ill-j Lidgment, partiality in the civil rulers ? 
 Was it loss of faith in God, and their own resources ? 
 Let history answer. The fact remains. Lee's army of 
 seventy thousand at Gettysburg, in June, 1863, was cut 
 down to foz*ty thousand in Spottsylvania, in May, 1864. 
 It did not reach the last named number when from the 
 fifty miles of earthworks pressed by Grant at Peters- 
 burg, Lee vainly besought the government for " more 
 men, more men ! " 
 
 Thus Gettysburg is one of those great combats which 
 sum up and terminate an epoch. Let us see what led 
 to it, and how it was fought. 
 
 Hooker, overwhelmed at Chancellorsville, and driven 
 back over the river, the Federal arms seemed paralyzed, 
 at least for the time. Everything prompted a move- 
 ment of the Southern army northward. The country 
 was in a blaze of enthusiasm ; the army regarded itself 
 as invincible ; the authorities at Pichmond greeted 
 each other with smiles ; when Lee sent thither for ra- 
 tions, the Commissary-General, in high good humor, 
 
GETTYSBURG. 199 
 
 or laboring nnder a grand conception, endorsed, it is 
 said, on the requisition, " If Gen. Lee wishes rations, 
 let him seek them in Pennsylvania." 
 
 Lee obeyed the wish of the country. Chancellors- 
 ville was fought on the third day of May, — on the 
 third day of June, the army of Northern Virginia was 
 on the road to Gettysburg. 
 
 Let us look at the great chess-board, and endeavor 
 to comprehend the " situation " and the plans of Lee. 
 nooker was on the Rappahannock, and it was desirable 
 to draw him out of Virginia. This could only be done 
 by advancing to invade the North. By moving through 
 the gaps of the Blue Ridge, toward the Potomac, Lee 
 would accomplish one of two things, — he would force 
 Hooker to follow him, or compel that commander to 
 advance upon Richmond. Lf he adopted the latter 
 alternative, Lee would be in his rear; could move 
 upon AVashington; and, to use his own expression, 
 ^' swap queens," — one capital for the other. This bold 
 move was not anticipated, however. Hooker would 
 fall back under orders from his government to protect 
 the Federal capital. Then Lee, still advancing, would 
 draw him into Maryland, into Pennsylvania. Then, 
 Beauregard was to hasten forward to Culpeper Court 
 House,^ and threaten Washington, diverting a portion 
 of Hooker's troops fi'om the Army of the Potomac for 
 its protection, — or that whole army. If a portion, 
 then Lee would fight his opponent at a disadvantage. 
 
 * This portion of Lee's plan was revealed in tlie dispatcli from 
 President Davis, on tlie person of the courier captured at Hagers- 
 town, on the 2d of July. 
 
200 GETTTSBURQ. 
 
 If the whole army, then Harrisburg, Philadelphia, per- 
 haps, would fall. 
 
 Then a treaty of peace, — a document such as the 
 world had never seen before, — an agreement consist- 
 ing of one article only : 
 
 " Let us alone, and we will let you alone ! " 
 
 Such, it would seem, werg the plans of Gen. Lee 
 in June, 1863 ; such the splendid prize which lured 
 Mm on to that magnificent march. It will live in his- 
 tory as one of the greatest in the annals of war. Let 
 us, therefore, follow the steps *of the Confederate com- 
 mander, from the first movement of his infantry into 
 Culpeper to his appearance at the head of sixty-seven 
 thousand bayonets in front of Gettysburg. 
 
 About to move, Lee ordered a review of Stuart's 
 cavalry. It took place in a plain not far from Brandy 
 Station, and the horsemen charged, shouts resounded, 
 the artillery roared in mimic battle as the troopers, 
 SAVord in hand, rushed upon it, — beneath a great pole 
 fi'om which floated the Confederate banner. Gen. Lee, 
 calm and silent, sat his horse, looking on. 
 
 No sooner had the thunders of the mimic battle died 
 away, than the cannon began again, and this time in 
 earnest. Gen. Hooker had sent over two divisions of 
 cavalry, supported by two " picked brigades " of infan- 
 try, with artillery, to discover the meaning of all this 
 noise. Stuart met them with liis cavalry on Fleetwood 
 Hill, near Brandy Station, and throughout all a June 
 day wrestled with them in obstinate fight. At sunset 
 they were repulsed and di'iven beyond the river again, 
 but one thing had been accomplished : Lee's bayo- 
 nets had been seen in the Culpeper woods, and thus 
 
OETTTSBURG. * 201 
 
 the presence of a portion of his infantry there was 
 known. This, and the fact that A. P. Hill was still on 
 the heights of Fredericksbiu'g, summed up the knowl- 
 edire of Gen. Hooker in reference to the movements of 
 his antagonist. 
 
 Hill's presence there at Fredericksburg was tempt- 
 ing. Why not cross the Rappahannock, cut him to 
 pieces before Lee could succor him, and advance on 
 Richmond ? Hooker suggested that plan, but Presi- 
 dent Lincoln demurred. His views were expressed in 
 that rough and homely style, which, wanting in the 
 dignity which Washington had set the example of to 
 all in his " great office," was not deficient in a rude 
 pith, and good sense : 
 
 "In case you find Lee coming to the north of the 
 Rappahannock," wrote Lincoln to Hooker, " I would 
 by no means cross to the south of it. I would not take 
 any risk of being entangled upon the river, like an ox 
 jumjped half over a fence^ and liable to he torn hy dogs, 
 front and rear, without a fair chance to gore one way 
 or kick the otherP 
 
 Five days afterwards, the President wrote once 
 more : 
 
 " I think Lee's army, and not Richmond, is your true 
 objective point. If he comes towards the Upper Po- 
 tomac, fight him when opportunity offers. If he stays 
 where he is (in Culpeper), fret him, and fret himP 
 
 President Lincoln and his Lieutenant were thus spec- 
 ulating and consulting on the probable intentions of 
 their antagonist, when startling intelligence reached 
 them from the Shenandoah Yalley. Lee had executed 
 a movement as successful as it was hazardous. With one 
 
202 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 corps of his army, iinder Hill, at Fredericksburg, and 
 another under Longstreet, on the banks of the Rapidan, 
 he had pushed forward the third, under Ewell, by way 
 of Chester's Gap, into the Shenandoah Yalley — thus 
 making of liis arm}^, directly in face of the enemy, a 
 skirmish line, stretching over about one hundred miles. 
 Then the object of this movement soon appeared. 
 Ewell's infantry wound through the mountain gorge, 
 crossed the Shenandoah at Front Hoyal, and pushing 
 rapidly forward, attacked Milroy at Winchester, driv- 
 ing him thence with a loss of four thousand prisoners, 
 twenty-nine pieces of artillery, and a great mass of 
 military stores. Gen. Milroy had cruelly tyrannized 
 over the unhappy people, ruling the whole country 
 with a rod of ii'on, and in one day swift retribution 
 had come upon him. Driven from his " Star Fort " at 
 the point of the bayonet ; hurried on his way with shot 
 and shell ; cut off and overwhelmed by a force sent to 
 his rear, he had scarcely the time to escape in person, 
 with a handful of men, across the Potomac. 
 
 " In my opinion," wrote Hooker, on the 25th of June, 
 " Milroy 's men will fight better under a soldier. ^^ 
 
 That was his epitaph ! 
 
 Having thus brushed away this hornet's nest, Ewell 
 pushed for Maryland, and this was the intelligence 
 which came to strike at the same moment President 
 Lincoln at Washington, and Gen. Hooker on the Kap- 
 pahannock. It drew forth one of Lincoln's most char- 
 acteristic dispatches — a curious docimaent, full of good 
 ■judgment, mingled with a sort of grotesque humor : 
 
 " If the head of Lee's army is at Martinsburg," wrote 
 
GETTYSBURG. 203 
 
 Lincoln, " and the tail of it on the Plank Hoad between- 
 Fredericksburg and Chancellorville, the animal must 
 he very slim somewhere — could you not hreah him? 
 
 "A. Lincoln." 
 
 There was little of the verbiage of " official dignity " 
 
 there, and no " distinguished considerations ; " but there 
 was good sense. George Washington and John Adams 
 — different personages from Lincoln — would ne^;er 
 have used those words, but the suggestion w^as none the 
 less valuable. Gen. Hooker ought to have struck at 
 that long, slim line, stretched out over one or two hun- 
 dred miles. Instead of doing so, he fell back to pro- 
 tect Washington. 
 
 The great game of chess was now in full progress. 
 Lee's strategy had met with admirable success. Hook- 
 er was afraid to move upon Kichmond : afraid to attack 
 his opponent's flank ; he was falling back to guard his 
 own territory and capital. Thus Lee advanced with- 
 out hindi'ance to the accomplishment of his designs; 
 the three corps of his army moved on steadily, guided 
 by the master mind. 
 
 Ewell had pushed into the valley, and Longstreet 
 marched up to guard his rear. Ewell advanced tow- 
 ard the Potomac, and Longstreet followed. Then 
 into the gap behind Longstreet, thus moving on, came 
 up Hill from Fredericksburg. Thus corps by corps, 
 the Confederate arms streamed northward, ready to 
 concentrate and give battle at any moment, if Hooker 
 had the boldness to attack. 
 
 The perplexity of that personage seems to have been 
 extreme. He was ignorant of Lee's designs. Did the 
 
204: • GETTYSBURG. 
 
 Confederate commander intend to advance into Penn- 
 sylvania, or was this great movement designed to tempt 
 liis adversary to attack on the Rappahannock, when Lee 
 would sweep down on his right and rear, interposing be- 
 tween him and Washington ? The latter was probable, 
 and Gen. Hooker fell back to Manassas. But then his 
 perplexities increased. Did Lee intend a real invasion, 
 or was he only waiting for Hooker to cross the Poto- 
 mac, to pass the Blue Ridge, and advance upon "Wash- 
 ington ? 
 
 Gen. Hooker was in a maze, as were his most expe- 
 rienced advisers. 
 
 " Try and hunt up somebody from Pennsylvania," 
 wrote his Chief of Staff, Gen. Butterfield, as late as 
 June 17th, "who knows something, and has a cool 
 enough head to judge w^hat is the actual state of affairs 
 there with regard to the enemy. My impression is that 
 Lee's movement on the Upper Potomac is a cover for 
 a cavalry raid on the south side of the river. . . . 
 "We cannot go boggling round until we know what 
 we are going after." 
 
 To terminate if possible this paralysis of doubt, 
 Gen. Hooker sent out a powerful force of cavalry and 
 infantry from Aldie toward the Blue Ridge, drove 
 Stuart before him, in spite of obstinate resistance, and 
 at Ashby's Gap Longstreet's forces, which had ad- 
 vanced along the eastern slope of the Ridge, were sud- 
 denly unmasked. Through Chester's Gap, in his rear. 
 Hill had rapidly passed into the valley. Thus all that 
 was discovered amounted to this alone — that Lee's 
 whole army was in the valley. "What was his design ? 
 
 All at once came a wild cry of terror, borne on the 
 
* -.% 
 
 QETTTSBUBG. 205 
 
 wind from PennsylYania. Soiitheru troopers were 
 swarming in the country around Chambersburg ; the 
 inhabitants were flying with their horses and cattle to 
 the mountains ; the whole State was in a blaze of ex- 
 citement and apprehension. Then came worse news 
 still. This was no mere " cavalry raid." Ewell's in- 
 fantiy had followed the cavalr}^; Longstreet and Hill 
 were crossing the Potomac at Williamsport, and Shep- 
 herdstown in his rear. Lee's w^hole army was advanc; 
 ing rapidly into the Cumberland Yalley. 
 
 General Hooker was thus certain of his adversary's 
 plans. He was no longer apprehensive of an attack 
 upon Washington from the Virginia side of the Poto- 
 mac, and hastened to cross that river near Leesburg, to 
 follow Lee. This crossing was effected on the 26th of 
 June ; his force was rapidly concentrated in the vicin- 
 ity of Frederick City, when, on the very next day, the 
 army was startled by the announcement that Gen. 
 Hooker had been relieved from command. 
 
 Such was the fact. Gen. Hooker's head had fallen 
 at Frederick City, as Gen. McClellan's had at Warren- 
 ton — in the midst of a great movement. The oppo- 
 nent of both, also, was the General-in-Chief, Halleck. 
 But there was this difference: McClellan was sar- 
 {)iised, nay, astounded, and bitterly resented the unex- 
 pected blow struck at him. Hooker accepted his fate 
 serenely — for he had applied to be relieved.* The 
 cause of all was Harper's Ferry, where ten thousand 
 troops still remained, and were of no earthly use. 
 Gen. Hooker wished to utilize them, but the General- 
 
 *Cond. of War, L,293. 
 18 
 
206 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 in-Chief would not pennit it. Every human being has 
 his hobby — Gen. Halleck's was Hai-per's Ferry. 
 When Gen. Hooker stumbled against it, Gen. Halleck 
 was inexorable. Thereuj^on, Gen. Hooker requested 
 to be relieved — and was relieved. 
 
 The command thus falling from Hooker's hands, 
 was assumed by General Meade, a soldier and a gen- 
 tleman. 
 
 Meade did not order a single trumpet to be blown 
 when he took command ; did not promise in any gen- 
 eral order to annihilate his opponent as soon as he 
 could come up with him ; did not criticise the move- 
 ments of his predecessor, or vaunt his own prowess. 
 He knew of what stuff his great advei*sary, Lee, was 
 made, and the metal of the army which followed him. 
 A mortal combat Avas before him, of which the issue 
 was far from certain, and with becoming gra\dty and 
 dignity. Gen. Meade assumed the great responsibility 
 thrust upon him, not sought by him. 
 
 There are men whom you are compelled to respect 
 as your enemies, as you would admire them were 
 they your friends. Meade belonged to that class. 
 
 Hooker disappeared — Meade succeeded him — the 
 Army of the Potomac did not exhibit by a single tre- 
 mor even the consciousness that another hand grasped 
 the helm. It moved on from Frederick City north- 
 ward to offer battle to Lee. 
 
 Let us return to that officer now, and look at the 
 invasion from a Confederate point of view. In the 
 last days of June, Ewell had passed through Chambers- 
 burg, occupied Carlisle, and penetrated to within sight 
 of Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania.- Lee 
 
GETTYSBURG. 207 
 
 had followed as far as Chambersburg, with the two 
 corps of Hill and Longstreet. 
 
 For the first time soldiers of the Confederate States 
 army were encamped on the soil of Pennsylvania. 
 What was their deportment there? "What was the 
 result for the inhabitants ? > 
 
 Plunder, cruelty, and outrage? Why not? Had 
 not Gen. Pope made a desert of Culpeper, destroying 
 without remorse evwy species of private property, 
 seizing f urnitm-e and clothing, the bread and meat of 
 women and children, burning the very houses over 
 their heads, the ruins of which may still be seen? 
 Had not Milroy made a hell of the country around 
 Winchester ? Had not subordinate ofiicers — Stahl and 
 Steinwehr and othei^ — oppressed the unfortunate peo- 
 ple beyond all power of words ? Had not the war, long 
 before, become a war upon women and children, and 
 gray-beards— upon their property, their liberty, and 
 their lives? If Lee retaliated, would history blame 
 him very severely? Would he not retaliate, now that 
 be was in the enemy's territory, making them realize 
 the horrors which the Federal troops had inflicted upon 
 Virginia ? 
 
 If any one thought that of Lee, he was speedily 
 undeceived. Here is what he said to his army at 
 Chambersburg, in the heart of Pennsylvania, June 27, 
 1863: 
 
 "The Commanding General considers that no 
 greater disgrace could befall the army, and thi-ough it 
 our whole people, t^an the perpetration of the bar- 
 barous outrages on the innocent and the defenceless, 
 and the wanton destruction of private property, that 
 
208 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 have marked the course of the enemy in our own coim- 
 try. It must he rememhered that we make war only 
 upon armed men. The Commanding General, there- 
 fore, earnestly exhorts the troops to abstain, with most 
 scrupulous care, from unnecessary or wanton injmy to 
 private property, and he enjoins upon all officers to 
 arrest and hring to summary jpunishment all who 
 shall in any way offeivd against the orders on this 
 
 subject.-^ 
 
 Such was Lee's order — and it was obeyed. Here is 
 the declaration of a Pennsylvanian, upon whose prop- 
 erty a portion of the army had encamped : 
 
 " I must say they acted like gentlemen, and, their 
 cause aside, I would rather have forty thousand rebels 
 quartered on my premises than one thousand Union 
 
 troops."^ 
 
 And one of the Richmond journals, bitterly criticis- 
 ing Lee's clemency, made the sneering statements that 
 he flamed out at the robbing even of the cherry-trees, 
 and if he saw the top rail thrown from a fence as he 
 was passing, would dismount and replace it with his 
 own hands ! 
 
 Such was the contrast between the Federal and Con- 
 federate invasions. Why is the parallel drawn ? Does 
 any one care? ]N"o — the world is deaf to all that 
 story, to-day. The South has committed the greatest 
 of crimes — she has failed, and has no advocate. The 
 truth is eternal — is mighty — and some day will pre- 
 vail. The mills of the gods grind slowly — behind 
 the blackest cloud is the sunshine ; to-morrow, or the 
 
 * C&r, N. T. C(m. Advertiser, July 7, 1863. 
 
OETTTSBURG, . 209 
 
 next year, or the next generation, that sun of truth 
 will show itself, and everything will appear in its real 
 colors. 
 
 Then the world will know what it is to act as a 
 Christian gentleman, whatever wrongs have fired the 
 blood — will see the grand proportions of the Virgin- 
 ian, Lee, and estimate him truly. 
 
 An outline has been presented of the movements of 
 the two armies from the Rappahannock, northward. 
 
 We are now at the 1st of July, and on the thresh- 
 old of the battle of Gettysburg. 
 
 To that " strategic point " — a sort of wheel-hub, 
 from which radiate, like spokes, roads running in every 
 direction — the two armies advanced, as though 
 dragged by the hand of destiny. It was the inexor- 
 able law of war, however, not fate, which forced the 
 adversaries to converge upon that point. Lee was 
 looking forward to Harrisburg — Meade back to Pipe 
 Creek, toward Washington. But Gettysburg said, 
 " Come ! " 
 
 Lee had been at Chambersburg with the main body 
 of his army, under Longstreet and Hill. Ewell had 
 meanwhile been sent on with his corps toward the 
 Susquehannah. He had steadily advanced, occupied 
 Carlisle, come in sight of Harrisburg, was about to 
 attack, when a summons came from Lee to rejoin the 
 main army at Gettysburg. 
 
 In fact the rapid advance of Gen. Meade made this 
 
 movement indispensable. Lee's communications with 
 
 Virginia were menaced; it was necessary to guard 
 
 them, and, recognizing this necessity, the Confederate 
 
 commander tm*ned to the right at Chambersburg, 
 18* 
 
 
210 , OETTYSBUBQ. 
 
 crossed the South Mountain, and, on the morning of 
 the first of July, was advancing to give battle to his 
 adversary. In expectation of this encounter, Ewell 
 had been recalled. Gen. Meade also saw the shadow 
 of the great event approaching, and hurried forward. 
 Tlie heads of the two columns came together, and the 
 " first day's fight at Gettysburg " followed. 
 
 From the moment when the blue and gray soldiers 
 caught sight of each other, the thunder began to roar. 
 Buford's cavalry, pushing out west of Gettysburg 
 about a mile, on this morning, suddenly struck up 
 ao^ainst the advance brio^ades of A. P. Hill. Then 
 followed a result which invariably characterizes en- 
 counters between infantry and cavalry. Gen. Buf ord 
 fought hard, but his horsemen recoiled before the bay- 
 onets of Hill, and he was being driven back when 
 General Reynolds hastened forward with liis infantiy. 
 
 Line of battle was then formed by the opposing 
 commanders upon ridges, facing each other, west of 
 Gettysburg, and the battle began in earnest. 
 
 Lee and Meade, in the rear, w3re startled by that 
 sound, for neither expected or desired a battle to be 
 fought there. Each appreciating the courage and re- 
 sources of his adversary, felt that the result of the 
 coming conflict largely depended upon manoeuvring 
 and position; to be thus plunged unawares into the 
 struggle, suited neither. 
 
 But the dice-box had been rattled in the hand of 
 fate, and the die was cast. The war-dogs had begun 
 to growl, and they could not be dragged back. 
 
 Thus did it happen that the collision of the advance 
 guards of the two armies brought on what becamo 
 
•^ 
 
 9 
 
 OETTYSBURO. 211 
 
 nearly a decisive engagement. It might have been 
 ' virtually made so . by the Confederates, if that night 
 they had seized upon Cemetery ffill. Decisive of 
 all, perhaps — of much, certainly. 
 
 Before noon Lee and Meade had sent forward, divi- 
 sion by division, powerful reinforcements to the col- 
 umns engaged. Thus the " affair of advance guards " 
 had become a wrestle of two armies. It was a lovely 
 country and a lovely day, which looked on that hurly- 
 burly of fierce passions. The fields were green with 
 grass,j:)r golden with the ripe grain, over which a gen- 
 tle breeze passed. The landscape was broken by 
 woods ; in the west rose blue mountains ; the sun 
 was shining brilliantly through showery clouds; in 
 the east the heavens were spanned by a magnificent 
 rainbow. 
 
 Such was the scene of Arcadian beauty — golden 
 fields, lit by the sunshine, with the symbol of peace 
 bending over all — in which the mighty adversaries 
 had now grappled. Only, other features of the land- 
 scape at that moment jarred upon the tranquil loveli- 
 ness of the spot. The flame and smoke of burning 
 farm-houses, fired by shell, rose threateningly, and 
 swept across the fields ; the hills rebellowed with the 
 long roar of the artillery and the crash of musketry 
 as the opponents closed in. 
 
 Warring passions have come to make an inferno of 
 this paradise. By that rainbow ladder, the Angel of 
 Peace, you would say, has ascended to heaven, hiding 
 with her long, wliite wings, the pitying eyes which 
 feared to look upon the terrible spectacle. 
 
 The opposing Knes are drawn up on the two ridges, 
 
212 QBTTYSBURQ. 
 
 facing each other, a mile west of Gettysburg, with 
 TVilloughby Run, a small stream, between them. Hill, 
 dri^dng Buford, takes the initiative, and throws his 
 right across the stream. It is speedily assailed, and, 
 attacking with the greatest gallantry, the Federal 
 forces which have hurried f onvard, envelop and cap- 
 ture Gen. Archer, ^vith several hundred men, and soon 
 afterwards two regiments of Mississippians meet with 
 the same fate. Surrounded in a ravine, they are 
 seized, and triumphantly borne off, with their battle- 
 flags. Thus, for the moment, fortune seems to smile 
 upon the blue, and frown upon the gray. 
 
 But a great misfortune to the Federal side has come 
 to balance this success. They have lost their brave 
 Gen. Reynolds, corps commander. Hurrying forward 
 to meet Hill, he has fallen, struck in the neck by a 
 bullet, and is borne to the rear, already dying. 
 
 But Federal reinforcements continue to push for- 
 ward to the scene of action. The men advance gaily, 
 exclaiming, "We have come to stay!" It is one of 
 their own officers. Gen. Doubleday, who is going 
 before the Committee on the "War to utter coolly the 
 terrible witticism : 
 
 " And a very large portion of them never left that 
 ground ! "* 
 
 Hill's advance force, thus hard pushed, holds its 
 ground with the old gallantry, shown in so many bat- 
 tles, but the pressure on it is heavy. Moving more to 
 the left. Hill concentrates, and offers a determined 
 front, when all at once a welcome sight greets his eyes. 
 
 * Cond. of Wax, I., p. 307. 
 
GETTYSBURG. 213 
 
 It is a long line of bayonets, emerging from the north- 
 ern woods, and the glimmer of gray uniforms. 
 
 This force is Swell's. He has hurried forward from 
 the banks of the Snsqnehannah at the summons of 
 Lee, pushed straight for Gettysburg, and here he is, 
 coming into line on Hill's left flank, opposite the Fed- 
 eral right. He seizes upon Oak Hill, a commanding 
 eminence then, forma Rodes' division, all that has yet 
 arrived, for battle, and the thunder of the guns upon 
 his left tells Hill that the engagement is about to take 
 a new phase. 
 
 The enemy, too, see that. They hurry forward a 
 fresh corps, and place it on the right of their former 
 line, and thus envelop Gettysburg on the west and 
 north, both. Their line is a crescent, with its left half 
 opposite Hill, its right half opposite Rhodes. Then 
 the thunders are redoubled. 
 
 The battle rages all along the shores of "Willoughby 
 Run, in the fields below Seminary Ridge — the lines 
 bending to and fro, the hills bellowing. From the 
 roofs and steeples of Gettysburg affrighted burghers 
 look on stupefied. By the roads in rear, long strings 
 of panting Dutchmen are seen wending their way hur- 
 riedly to the rear ; — " Stalwart, able-bodied wretches, 
 in men's garments," a IN'orthem correspondent of the 
 New York Commercial Advertiser^ calls them — the 
 
 * The same correspondent writes in a manner far from compli- 
 mentary to the Gettysburghers : " There are," he says, "some of 
 the most intensely mean persons in this neighborhood that the 
 world produces. On Thursday, a bill of seventeen hundred dollars 
 was presented to Gen. Howard for damage to the cemetery during 
 the night. One man presented Gen. Howard a bill for thirty-seven 
 and a half cents for four bricks knocked off the chimney of his house 
 
214 ^ OETTYSBURG. 
 
 Arcady of the day before has become a scene of con- 
 flict bitter beyond expression. 
 
 The Federal lines are stretched thus over the great 
 fields west and north of the town, and seem about to 
 drive the Confederate forces in their front, when a sec- 
 ond reinforcement appears coming from the north. It 
 is Early, commanding Ewell's second division, and 
 Early takes his ]50sition upon Eodes' left. Thus the 
 Confederate line has swept round in a semicircle, adapt- 
 ing itself to the enemy's — Early on its left, E-odes in 
 the centre. Hill's troops upon the right. 
 
 But between the right and left wings of the Federal 
 army is a gap. Ewell sees it, and gets ready. At 
 three o'clock the great blow is delivered. 
 
 Eodes, holding Oak Hill, opposite the Federal cen- 
 tre, hammers at it with his guns; then suddenly he 
 rushes forward, and breaks the Federal lines asunder, 
 as an iron wedge splits a tree-trimk. His attack 
 sweeps away the right of one coi-ps and the left of 
 another ; the Federal army is pierced, and Early and 
 Gordon, advancing at the same time against their right 
 wing, the whole line is thrown into confusion, doubled 
 up, and driven back, wildly flying, into Gettysburg, 
 through which the disordered regiments stream rap- 
 idly, on their way to Cemetery Hill. The day is lost. 
 
 by our artiUery. Our wearied, and, in many instances, wounded 
 soldiers found pumps locked so that they could not g-et water. A 
 hungry officer asked a woman for something to eat, and she first in- 
 quired how much he would pay. Another asked for a drink of 
 milk, and the female wished to know if he had any change. These 
 persons were not poor, but among the most substantial citizens of 
 the town and vicinity." — Cor. N. T. Com. Advertiser^ July 7, 
 1863. 
 
QETTYSBVItG. 215 
 
 The Federal forces are in full retreat, leaving guns, 
 flags, and five thousand prisoners in the hands of the 
 Confederates. Gen. Hancock, sent bj Meade, gallops 
 up only to find that the day is decided — the advance 
 corps of the Army of the Potomac overwhelmed ; worse 
 than all, that Cemeteiy Hill, that fi-owning rampart, 
 the key-position of the whole, is only held by a single 
 brigade, supported by the cavalry of Buford. 
 
 Has the reader of this page ever ^dsited Gettysburg? 
 If so, he will comprehend the terrible significance 
 of this fact. Holding that powerful position, made, 
 one would say, for artillery— with his right and left 
 resting firmly on the rugged slopes of Gulp's and 
 Kound-Top Hills— Gen. Meade could bid defiance to 
 his adversary, and drive back any force which came 
 against him. Losing possession of that range — forced 
 back from it by the columns of Lee— that was to ruin 
 Gen. Meade ; for Lee once occupying Cemetery Hill, 
 there was nothing left for the Federal commander but 
 retreat. 
 
 On the evening of the 1st of July, 1863, the fate of 
 the Confederacy was decided, it would seem, by the 
 failure of the Confederates to adsrance and seize tiie 
 great fortress thus within their very grasp. ^Ylio was 
 to blame ? History must answer the question. What 
 is certain is, that the hill was not occupied. It was 
 held by one brigade, some cavalry, and the disordered 
 remnants of the two defeated corps, only— and no at- 
 tack was made. 
 
 The moment passed. Hancock strained every nerve. 
 Meade hurried forward with his main body. The hills 
 swarmed with troops. On the next morning, Gen. Lee 
 
216 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 saw in front of him, on that impregnable fortress, the 
 glittering bayonets and bristling cannon of nearly the 
 whole Army of the Potomac. 
 
 Let us look now at the ground upon which the final 
 struggle was about to take place. 
 
 Cemetery Hidge, a line of hills running northward 
 toward the town of Gettysburg, bends eastward in the 
 vicinity of the place, and terminates in the rude ac- 
 clivity of Gulp's Hill. There rested Meade's right. 
 
 At the southern end of the ridge rises Eotmd-Top 
 Hill, a rugged and almost perpendicular peak — wild, 
 frowning, jagged, bristling with woods. Here rested 
 Meade's left. 
 
 A]ong the crest of the range, between these two 
 points, were drawn up his infantry and artillery, ready 
 for battle. 
 
 Lee occupied a range nearly parallel with his oppo- 
 nent, but lower, and commanded by it — Seminary 
 Eidge. His right, held by Longstreet, was opposite 
 Hound-Top — his left, commanded by Ewell, bent 
 round, east of Gettysburg, conforming itself to the 
 enemy's line, and faced Meade's right on Gulp's Hill. 
 
 A. P. Hill held the centre. 
 
 Between the opposing ranges was a little valley trav- 
 ersed by a stream, and waving with golden wheat, over 
 which ran shadows as the breeze touched it. 
 
 In the midst of this lovely land, smiling in the sun- 
 shine, was now about to take place one of the bloodiest 
 combats of all history. On one side — the Army of 
 the Potomac — was courage, discipliae, complete equip- 
 ment, excellent soldiership in men and officers, and 
 the consciousness that they were fighting on their own 
 
 
'i^ 
 
 OETTTSBJJBO. 217 
 
 soil, pressed by the foot of the stranger. On the other 
 
 the Army of Northern Yirginia — was a courage 
 
 certainly as reckless, a onaterid certainly as excellent ; 
 but in addition, a wild elevation and self-confidence, 
 unparalleled since the days of K"apoleon. Fredericks- 
 burg and Chancellorsville had made every private rate 
 himself as worth three of the enemy ; no heart in all 
 that host doubted the result for an instant.; an inde- 
 scribable afflatus, like the breath of victory, buoyed up 
 the army ; they went to battle dancing and singing, as 
 tliough excited by champagne. 
 
 " I never even imagined such courage," said a Fed- 
 eral surgeon to Gen. Kemper ; " your men seemed to 
 be drunk with victory, as they charged ! " 
 
 The two armies were nearly equal in numbers. 
 
 " Including all the arms of the service," says General 
 Meade, " my strength was a little under one hundred 
 thousand men." 
 
 Gen. Lee's was sixty-seven thousand bayonets — 
 about seventy thousand of all arms, in the absence of 
 Stuart's cavaby. So the morning report declared, on 
 Gen. Longstreet's authority. 
 
 " The Army of Northern Yirginia," said Longstreet, 
 " was at this time in a condition to undertake any- 
 thing." 
 
 You were right. General ! It was only the impossi- 
 ble that was beyond their strength. 
 
 Such were the relative numbers of the two great 
 armies, drawn up and facing each other, on the Get- 
 tysburg Heights, July 2, 1863. Each commander was 
 waiting for the other to attack, and wisely. To be 
 assailed — that was tcp enjoy an enormous advantage. 
 19 
 
218 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 To assail — that was to run a terrible hazard. The 
 lines advancing over those waving wheat-fields were 
 doomed to destruction from the fire on the neighbor- 
 ing heights. Which side would first try that bloody 
 advance ? 
 
 It speedily became obvious that Gen. Meade had no 
 such intention. He was plainly going to await his ad- 
 versary's attack. Would Lee make that attack, how- 
 ever ? — would he not rather execute a great flank 
 movement by the Emmetsburg Road ? * At four in 
 the afternoon that question was answered. 
 
 All the forenoon, Gen. Lee had remained silent. 
 Seated on the stump of a tree, near the centre of his 
 line, he reconnoitered his great adversary — seeking, 
 apparently, for some opening in his armor. There 
 seemed absolutely none. Right and left, as far as the 
 eye could reach, stretched the glittering blue lines, 
 defended everywhere by cannon, and to charge those 
 heights, thus crowned with bayonets and artilleiy, 
 seemed a hopeless undertaking. An assault aiming to 
 turn the Federal left, in front of Round-Top, seemed 
 to promise good results, however, and this assault was 
 determined on by Lee. 
 
 At four in the afternoon all is ready. The attack- 
 ing column will be that of Longstreet, holding the 
 right — Lee's " Old War Horse," who had breasted so 
 many shocks of battle, and never failed him yet. You 
 have only to look at the calm face, half enveloped in 
 the full beard, to understand that this is an obstinate 
 fighter. On that face is written the stubborn tenacity 
 
 * Expected by Gen. Meade — «ee his testimony. 
 
GETTTSBURO. 219 
 
 of the bull-dog, who, once closing his teeth in the body 
 of an fenemy, will permit himself to be hewn in pieces 
 without relaxing his hold. 
 
 Longstreet opens, first a heavy fire of artillery. 
 With that great hammer he strives to loosen the iron 
 joints of the Federal coat of mail in his front. Gen. 
 Sickles receives this fire ; he has thrown his lines for- 
 ward considerably in front of the rest, and it will be 
 necessary for Longstreet to overpower and drive him 
 back before scaling the heights of Kound-Top. 
 
 The hammer continues to bang ; Longstreet forms 
 his column of assault, consisting of Hood and Mc- 
 Laws ; at four in the evening he moves. Then the 
 thunder of the cannon drops to silence, and the vet- 
 erans of the First Coi'ps are hurled against the blue 
 lines in their front. 
 
 From this moment until night descends — and the 
 eyes of the dying see the " moon rise o'er the battle- 
 plain " — one continuous crash of musketry and thun- 
 der of artillery rolls through the valley, and leaps back 
 from the hills, deafening all ears. McLaws, holding 
 liOngstreet's left, and supported by Hill's right divi- 
 sion, attacks the Federal salient, pushes forward into a 
 peach-orchard in his front, and here, hour after hour, 
 the battle continues to roar. In spite of Federal re- 
 inforcements, constantly arriving, the Confederates, 
 slowly but surely, push back the opposing lines. 
 Brigade after brigade of the l^orthern troops is swept 
 away ; the Confederates continue to advance ; the 
 great carnival of death is in full blast, and it is the 
 gray soldiers who ride upon the wave of battle, bear- 
 
 & 
 
220 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 ing them ever nearer to the heights, which, once 
 attained, will give them victory. 
 
 Meanwhile, the assault of Longstreet's right di^-ision 
 has been splendid. It is led by Hood, the great 
 Texan, unsurpassed for dash and courage by any sol- 
 dier in the army. Hood never pauses in his charge, 
 rfor he is a man " to count on." He pushes straight 
 across the Federal flank, sweeping back from Peach 
 Orchard toward Round-Top, and penetrates the space 
 between their left and the peak. At one blow Hood 
 seems to have decided the great struggle. His Tex- 
 ans are rushing up the slope. Once rooted on this 
 rugged peak, they will have Gen. Meade's army in 
 reverse. Their cannon will enfilade his lines ; the 
 Cemetery height will be untenable ; the Federal army 
 will be dislodged from its grand position, and be 
 forced to retreat upon "Washington, pursued by Lee. 
 
 All this Hood sees at a glance; his Texans rush 
 upon the hill, ^vithout skirmishers, in solid mass, every 
 man running and yelling. The rocky slope is reached; 
 the Texans dash toward the summit without pause ; 
 when suddenly on the crest they are met, bayonet to 
 bayonet ; beyond are confused groups of shouting and 
 struggling men, dragging up cannon. 
 
 A single officer has saved the Army of the Potomac. 
 Gen. Warren, riding by, as Hood charges, has seen 
 the imminent peril — has imperiously ordered the sig- 
 nal-officers, about to retreat from Round-Top, to con- 
 tinue waving their flags — has seized a brigade, the 
 fii'st he can find — has rushed up the slope, directing 
 cannon to be hauled up by the hands of the men ;' and 
 when Hood's troops reach the crest, it is to find them- 
 
GETTYSBURG, 221 
 
 selves met, breast to breast, by a brigade of infantry, 
 who attack them, bayonet to bayonet, with chibbed 
 muskets, ^dth rocks, howling, yelling, dying, but drag- 
 ging with them as they fall the foes with whom they 
 have grappled. 
 
 In half an hour this bloody combat has ended. The 
 head of Hood's column is hurled fi*om the peak into 
 the ravine- — the enemy are massed upon the summit — 
 over the dead bodies, thick strewn on the rocky crest, 
 and the wounded, weltering in blood, rolls the hoarse 
 and menacing thunder of the artillery, dragged thither 
 at last, and now firing upon the gray soldiers beneath. 
 
 It was Vincent's brigade which did this work. The 
 names of his men should be preserved. They saved 
 the day at Gettysburg. Hear Gen. Meade : 
 
 " At the same time that they threw these immense 
 masses against Gen. Sickles, a heavy column was 
 tlirown upon the Round-Top Mountain, which was the 
 key point of my whole position. If they had succeeded 
 in occujpying that, it would have prevented me from 
 holding any of the ground which I subsequently held 
 to the lastr 
 
 That is to say, that the question whether Gen. 
 Meade was to retreat or not, was decided in the 
 thirty minutes' fight on the crest of Eound-Top Hill. 
 
 Strange battle ! The Federal forces driven on the 
 first day's fight; but Cemetery Hill not occupied. 
 Driven again in the second day's fight; but Round- 
 Top Hill not secured. Fate seemed to fight against 
 the South. There is one title for the battle of Get- 
 tysburg which should live in history — "The Great 
 Graze ! " 
 
 19* 
 
222 GETTT8BUB0. 
 
 At nightfall Longstreet was retreating sullenly. He 
 had fonght with his well-known obstinacy; had 
 clutched victory, it seemed, twice or thricd ; but, 
 promptly and rapidly reinforced at every point by 
 brigades, di\dsions, corps, the Federal lines had stub- 
 boi-nly returned to the contest, worn out their oppo- 
 nents by sheer hard fighting : then they had advanced 
 in turn, and forced the Confederates back beyond the 
 peach orchard and wheat field. Wlien 'night des- 
 cended, the lines faced each other there — nothino^ had 
 been gained. The moon rising slowly over the battle- 
 field, looked do^vn upon a thousand corpses — that was 
 all. 
 
 Lee's fir*st assault upon the enemy's position has thus 
 failed ; but he does not despair. He will try another. 
 While Longstreet has attacked the enemy's left, Ewell 
 has assailed their extreme right ; has penetrated their 
 line, occupied their breastworks, and at nightfall 
 seems rooted firmly there ; but at dawn he has been 
 attacked in turn, driven fi'om his jDosition, and now, on 
 this morning of the 3rd, is again in the plain, with all 
 the labor to go over again. 
 
 General Lee, from his position on Seminary Kidge, 
 at his centre, reconnoitres the Federal position through 
 his field glass. There is no change in it, except that 
 Gen. Meade has straightened his line, has his flanks 
 thoroughly protected, and is not to be surprised on his 
 right or his left. 
 
 One of two things must be done by Lee. He must 
 retire, or attack the Federal centre. Wliich course 
 will he pursue ? He looks at his old army, cool, reso- 
 lute, gay, believing in itself and in him. He resolves 
 
GBTTT8BUBG. 223 
 
 to put all upon tlie die, and orders preparations to be 
 made for a final assault. 
 
 We approach now one of those grand dramatic spec- 
 tacles which stand out, bold, prominent, and bloody, on 
 the great canvas of the world's wars. Gettysburg is 
 to see a last charge — the glare is to deepen, the 
 tragedy attain its utmost intensity in the rush of the 
 Virginians upon Cemetery Ilill. 
 
 For this hard work, Pickett's division of Virginia 
 troops, which has just arrived, fresh from the rear, has 
 been selected by Lee. He knows of what metal they 
 are, and that he can depend upon them. 
 
 The great attack once determined upon, the arrange- 
 ment of the troops is rapidly made. Pickett, with his 
 Virginians, will make the assault, his flanks covered 
 and supported by "Wilcox and Pettigrew — Longstreet 
 will guard their right against an attack fi'om the force 
 in front of him. If the Virginians burst through and 
 seize the Cemetery heights, the whole centre of the 
 army will rush into that gap ; Meade's wings will be 
 torn asunder ; then his fate will be decided. 
 
 At one o'clock, Lee commences the execution of his 
 plan. Lie has crowned Seminary Pidge, along the 
 whole fi'ont of Longstreet and Hill, with artillery, and 
 at one in the day, one hundred and forty-five pieces of 
 cannon open their grim mouths, sending their., hoarse 
 roar across the valley. Eighty pieces reply to them, 
 and for two hours these two hundred and twenty-five 
 cannon tear the air with their harsh thunder, reverber- 
 ating ominously in the gorges of the hills, and hurled 
 back in crash after crash, from the rocky slopes of the 
 two ridges. Searching for a word to describe this 
 
224 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 artillery fire, that cool and imexcitable soldier, Gen. 
 Hancock, could find nothing bnt " terrific." 
 
 " Their artillery fire," he says, " was most terrific. 
 . . . . It was the most terrific cannonade I ever 
 
 witnessed, and the most prolonged It was 
 
 a most terrific and appalling cannonade — one, possibly, 
 hardly ever paralleled." 
 
 For neai'ly, or qnite two hours, Lee continues this 
 " terrific " fire. With this hammer of the Titans he 
 aims to so batter the Federal centre, breaking down its 
 strength, that when his sword's point is thrust forsvard, 
 it will pierce every obstacle and diink blood. So the 
 gigantic sledge hammers bang away without ceasing, 
 until nearly tliree o'clock. Then the Federal fire slack- 
 ens, appeal's to be silenced, and Lee in turn ceases his 
 own. The moment has come. 
 
 The Yirginians of Pickett form in double line, just 
 in the edge of the wood on Seminary Ridge — then 
 they are seen to move. They advance into the valley, 
 supported by Pettigrew on the left, and Wilcox ready 
 to follow on the right. So the division goes into that 
 Valley of Death, advancing in face of the enemy's 
 gun's at " common time," as the troops of Ney moved 
 under the Russian artillery, on the banks of the Dnie- 
 per. 
 
 The two armies look on, holding their breath. It is 
 a magnificent spectacle. Old soldiers, hardened in the 
 fire of battle, fiush, and lean forward with fiery eyes. 
 Suddenly the Federal artillery oj)ens all its thunders, 
 and the ranks are swept from end to end by round shot, 
 shell, and canister. Bloody gaps are seen, but the men 
 close up ; the line advances slowly, as before. The fire 
 
GETTYSBURG. 225 
 
 redoubles ; all the demons of hell seem howling, roar- 
 ing, yelling, screaming, gibbering in one great witch's 
 sabbat. Through the attacking colnmn teai-s a storm 
 of iron, before which men fall in heaps, mangled, 
 bleeding, their bodies torn to pieces, their dying hands 
 clutching the grass. The survivors close up the ranks 
 and go on steadily. 
 
 Virginia is not poor and bare, as some suppose her. 
 She is rich beyond royal or imperial dreams — for she 
 has that charge. 
 
 At three hundred yards from the slope, the real con- 
 flict bursts forth. There the thunder of the artillery 
 is succeeded by the crash of musketry. From behind 
 'their stone breastwork the Federal infantry rise and 
 pour a sudden and staggering fire into the assailants. 
 Before that fire the troops of Pettigrew melt away. It 
 sweeps them as dry leaves are swept by the wind. 
 Where a moment before was a line of infantry, is now 
 a mass of fugitives, flying wildly before the hurricane 
 — the brave Pettigrew falling as he waves his sword 
 and attempts to rally them. 
 
 The Virginians have lost the flower of their forces, 
 but the survivors continue to advance. In face of the 
 concentrated fire of the infantry forming the Federal 
 centre, they ascend the slope, rush headlong at the 
 breastworks ; storm them ; strike their bayonets into 
 the flpng Federals ; and a wild cheer rises, making the 
 blood leap in the veins of a hundred thousand men. 
 
 They are torn to pieces, but they have carried the 
 works. Alas ! it is only the first line. Beyond, other 
 earthworks frown ; in their faces are thi'ust the muzzles 
 
226 GETTYSBURG. 
 
 of muskets which spout flame — the new line, too, 
 must be carried, and thej dash at it. 
 
 Then is seen a sj^ectacle which will long be remem- 
 bered — Pickett's little remnant charging the whole 
 Federal army. They charge, and are nearly annihi- 
 lated. Every step death meets them. Then the enemy 
 close in on the flanks of the little band — no supporters 
 are near — they fight bayonet to bayonet, and die. 
 
 When the torn and bleeding remnant fall back from 
 the fatal hill, pursued by yells, shouts, musket balls, 
 cannon shot, they present a spectacle which would be 
 piteous if it were not sublime. Of the three brigades, 
 a few scattered battalions only return. Where are the 
 commanders ? The brave Garnett killed ; the gallant 
 Armistead mortally wounded as he leaped his horse 
 over the breastworks ; the fiery Kemper lying maimed 
 for life, under the canister whirling over him. Four- 
 teen field officers out of fifteen are stretched dead and 
 d}dng on the field. Of the men, thi'ee-fom*ths are dead 
 or prisoners. 
 
 The battle of Gettysburg is decided. 
 
 AU^the following day. Gen. Lee remained in posi- 
 tion, awaiting an assault. 
 
 "I should have Hked nothing better than to have 
 been attacked," said Longstreet. 
 
 " My opinion is now," said Gen. Meade, " that Gen. 
 Lee evacuated that position not from the fear that he 
 would he dislodged from it In/ any active operations 
 on my part ^ but that he was fearful that a force would 
 be sent to Harper's Ferry to cut off his communications. 
 . . . . That was what caused him to retire." 
 
GETTYSBURG. 227 
 
 TVlien asked the question, "Did you discover, after 
 the battle of Gettysburg, any symptoms of demoraliza- 
 tion in Lee's army 1 " Gen. Meade replied, " IN'o, sir. 
 I saw nothing of that kind." * 
 
 There was none ; and Gen. Meade knew it. His 
 great adversary was at bay, and care was taken not to 
 press him too closely as he retired. On the 14th, Lee- 
 had recrossed the Potomac into Virginia, and the cam- 
 paign was ended. 
 
 Gettysburg was the "Waterloo — Cemetery Hill the 
 Mont St. Jean — of the war. 
 
 The Virginians who charged there had the right to 
 say,— 
 
 " The Old Guard dies — it does not surrender ! " 
 
 l!^ot without good reason is the anniversary of this 
 great battle celebrated at the l^orth with addresses and 
 rejoicings — with crowds, and music, and congratula- 
 tions. The American Waterloo is worth making that 
 noise over ; and the monument proposed there, is a 
 natural conception. 
 
 What will that monument be ? A lion, as at Wa- 
 terloo ? 
 
 Take care, Messieurs ! The world will say it is Lee ! 
 
 * Meade, Cond. of War, I., 337. 
 

 IX. 
 
 THE WILDEENESS MAY, 1864. 
 
 Feom 1861 to 1864, the war was war. Thenceforth 
 it was slaughter. 
 
 The Federal Captains, McDowell, McClellan, Pope, 
 Burnside, Hooker and Meade had fought pitched bat- 
 tles — sword's point against sword's point. Gen. Grant 
 was now going to bind his left arm to his adversary's 
 and stab with the bowie-knife until one or the other 
 was dead. 
 
 His theory of war had in it a grand simplicity. Lee 
 could only he crushed by hard blows. To attain that 
 end he had only to "hammer continuously." When 
 Gen. Meade spoke of manceuvring for position, Gen. 
 Grant replied : 
 
 " Oh ! I never manoeu^Te ! " 
 
 There was the whole coming campaign in a nut- 
 shell. 
 
 The Army of E"orthern Virginia was, thus, in Gen. 
 Grant's estimation, a body of men whom he could not 
 intimidate — Gen. Lee a commander whom he could 
 not out-general. Well, he would shatter that army by 
 simple brute force — by the sheer weight of his gigan- 
 tic sledge-hammerj "hammering continuously." He 
 
 (228) 
 
 ^4 
 
THE WILDERNESS. 229 
 
 would overcome Lee, not by " manceiiyring," but bj 
 simple, plain, hard fighting. 
 
 In the first week of May, 1864, the Titan, with his 
 hammer, crossed the Rapidan at the fords in Spottsyl- 
 vania, and began to batter at his great opponent. 
 
 It remained to be seen which would fii'st be shat- 
 tered — the sledge-hammer or the an\dl. That was of 
 tempered steel, and would endure much. Would it 
 endure this ? 
 
 Such was the problem, which, from the 5th of May, 
 1864, to the 9th of April, 1865, the world had presented 
 for its solution. As the days wore on, the radical 
 change in the whole theoiy of the war became more 
 and more apparent. There were to be no more battles 
 of Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellors- 
 yille, Gettysburg — combats wherein one side or the 
 other had the tidrantage, and the struggle ended for 
 the time. One great ^vrestle was no longer to sum up 
 a campaign, and give the soldiers rest until the next. 
 Gen. Grant had adopted a new plan — to hammer and 
 hammer — to " fight it out on this line if it took all the 
 summer" — to gi-apple and drag his great adversary, 
 and hurl him into the "last ditch," or be hurled into it 
 himself. 
 
 When war is thus conducted, it has, as we have said, 
 a grand simplicity. It is true, it is not instructive to 
 the military student, but it possesses the interest at- 
 tached to bloody fighting. You can't help being viv- 
 idly impressed by the spectacle of two bull-dogs cling- 
 ing to each other with teeth and nails — two game 
 cocks cutting each other's eyes out with their gaffs — 
 a hundred thousand men, who, breast to breast, tear 
 
230 THE WILDEENESS. 
 
 eacli other to pieces. That terrible and ghastly cam- 
 paign, di'agging its bloody steps from the Wilderness 
 to Appomattox, may not have been war exactly, as the 
 world understands war, but it had a frightful attraction 
 in it — its glare was baleful, but brilliant. 
 
 And Gen. Grant was not wrong. It is the fashion 
 to deny him military genius. He had, at least, a just 
 conception of the work before him. The rapier had 
 been tried for three long years, and Lee, that great 
 swordsman, had parried every lunge. What was his 
 Federal adversary of the huge bulk and muscle to do 
 now, in these last days? One course alone was left 
 him — to take the sledge-hammer in both hands, and, 
 leaving tricks of fence aside, advance straightforward, 
 and smash the rapier in pieces, blow by blow, shatter- 
 ing the arm that wielded it, to the shoulder blade. 
 
 The Ai-my of Northern Virginia could not be out- 
 generaled and .out-fought; Grant determined that it 
 should be worn out and destroyed, man by man. He 
 could not at one great blow stab it to death ; he re- 
 solved to drain its heart's blood, drop by drop. All his 
 predecessors had failed. On the 9th of April, 1865, 
 he had succeeded; — and was it not that good soldier, 
 Albert Sydney Johnston, who said, " Success is the test 
 of merit?" 
 
 Let us now follow Gen. Grant. At every step which 
 he took, a roar shook the ground. 
 
 In tracing the battles which sprung up wherever his 
 heel was placed, we shall have few manoeuvres to de- 
 scribe. This or that brigade or di\-ision rarely accom- 
 plished this or that heroic feat. Brigades, di\isions, 
 even corps, are lost in the smoke. Through the lurid 
 
TEE WILDERNESS. 231 
 
 cloud you saw only huge masses hurled against each 
 other — a storm thundered— when night came, five or 
 ten thousand men were dead, that was all. 
 
 The question was not whether this or that brigade 
 had fought well. What is the result ? was asked. Men 
 had ceased to be human beings ; they were units ; the 
 representatives of force, merely. For your death to 
 be spoken of you must be at least the commander of a 
 
 corps. 
 
 Half a mile gained, and a portion of the breastworks 
 carried— ten thousand "casualties." There was the 
 
 whole. 
 
 But, in these observations upon Gen. Grant's war- 
 theory, as applied to Lee, we have somewhat antici- 
 pated the order of things. That programme was thrust 
 on him. His plan, lie says in his report, was " to ham- 
 mer continuously against the armed force of the 
 enemy and his resources, until, by mere attrition, if 
 by nothing else, there should be nothing left of him, 
 but an eqical sitbmission with the loyal sectiop of our 
 common country to the Constitution and laws." (" An 
 equal submission." Ah ! General, that phrase seems a 
 mockery to-day— October, 1867 — does it not ?) But 
 that was after his first encounters with Lee. It was 
 then that the " attrition " programme was found neces- 
 sary. When Gen. Grant advanced to the Wilderness, 
 his object was undoubtedly, and properly, to make as 
 much of the road to Hanover Junction and Eichmond 
 as he possibly could, without a fight. This is scarcely 
 to be questioned ; at least, it was the belief of the 
 highest officers of the Confederate army, and the at- 
 tacks which he delivered in the jungle did not prove 
 
232 TEE WILDERNESS. 
 
 the contrary. As tlie reader wdll soon see, Gen. Grant 
 thought the force there was only Lee's rear guard as he 
 retreated. 
 
 Before following the movements of the combatants, 
 let us look for a moment at their relative numbers. 
 Therein is the true glory of the South — a heritage of 
 honour, of which nothing can deprive her. 
 
 Grant's " available force present for duty, !May 1, 
 1864," was, by the official statement of the Federal 
 "War Secretary, one hundi-ed and forty-one thousand 
 one hundred and sixty-six men. Throughout the 
 month of May reinforcements, " to repair the losses of 
 the Army of the Potomac," constantly arrived, making 
 the number of his troops operating "on this line" 
 nearly, or quite, two hundred thousand men. 
 
 Lee had " present for duty " at the same time, as the 
 rolls of his army will show, fifty-two thousand six 
 hundred and twenty-six.* Pickett and Breckenridge 
 brought him afterwards ten thousand men at most. 
 With about sixty-two tiiousand troops of all arms, Lee 
 fought from the Eapidan to Petersburg, repulsing the 
 assaults of nearly, or quite, two hundred thousand. 
 
 ^Miat was the explanation of Lee's paucity of 
 
 * Col. Walter H. Taylor, A. A. G. of the army, puts tiie effective 
 at somewhat less, viz. : 
 
 EweU 13,000 
 
 HiU 17,000 
 
 Longstreet 10,000 
 
 Infantry 40,000 
 
 Cavalry and artillery 10,000 
 
 Total of aU arms 50,000 
 
 —MS. of Col. Taylc/r. 
 
THE WILDERNESS. 233 
 
 troops? Why did that army, which had numbered 
 sixty-seven thousand bayonets at Gettysburg, now 
 number only about forty thousand ? To answer these 
 questions a vohune would be necessary — wounds 
 closing now would bleed afresh. Let it pass. The 
 fact alone need be stated — that the force defending 
 Yirginia was reduced to that. But they were the " Old 
 Guard" of the army — men who had made up their 
 minds to fight to the end — whose courage and con- 
 stancy, not hunger, hardships, nakedness, wounds nor 
 death could affect — who had resolved to live or die 
 with Lee. 
 
 And they adhered to that resolve vdth unshaken 
 constancy, to the end. They fought over every step of 
 ground from the Rapidan to Appomattox with a nei've 
 and dash so stubborn that their very enemies won- 
 dered ; and when, cut down to less than eight thou- 
 sand bayonets, they were driven to surrender, there 
 were tears on the gaunt faces, black with powder, 
 which had never been thus melted before. 
 
 Ten words from Lee had brought those tears. The 
 roar of Grant's cannon had only made them laugh and 
 cheer. 
 
 Let us . follow now the Federal Thor as he advanced 
 to the arduous work before him. 
 
 On the morning of May 5th, Gen. Grant was across 
 Rapidan with one hundi-ed thousand men — the rest 
 were hastening up. 
 
 When his adversary began thus his great advance, 
 Lee had held the line of the Rapidan above as far as 
 Liberty Mills. Hill was on his left, which was thrown 
 20* 
 
234 THE WILDERN'ESS, 
 
 back toward Orange Court House — Ewell on his right 
 — Longstreet was in reserve, near Gordonsville. 
 
 IS'o sooner, however, had Grant begun to move than 
 Lee broke up his camps, put his army in motion, and 
 — e\^dently without any design of retreating upon 
 Eichmond — went down to the Wilderness to fight. 
 
 Some critics called Lee cautious ; there was a terri- 
 ble audacity in his caution. With his fifty thousand, 
 he was going to attack Grant's one hundred and forty 
 thousand — to order "Halt!"' to that commander in 
 full career. 
 
 On the morning of the 5th, he was in the Wilder- 
 ness, had thrown down the gauntlet, and the great 
 struggle began. 
 
 We have already described that singular and sombre 
 country — a land of thicket, undergroAvth, jungle, ooze, 
 where men could not see each other twenty yards off, 
 and assaults had to be made by the compass. The fights 
 there were not as easy even as night attacks in open 
 country, for at night 3'ou can travel by the stars. Death 
 came unseen; regiments stumbled on each other, and 
 sent swift destruction into each other's ranks, guided by 
 the crackling of the bushes. It was not war — military 
 manoeuvring; science had as little to do with it as 
 sight. Two wild animals were hunting each other. 
 When they heard each other's steps, they sprung and 
 grappled. The conqueror advanced, or went else- 
 where. The dead was lost from all eves in the 
 shado\vy depths. 
 
 This may seem a fancy sketch. It is the truth, and 
 that truth is shown by the curious spectacle here pre- 
 sented of officers, advancing to the charge in that jun- 
 
THE WILDERNESS, 235 
 
 gle, compass in harid, attacking not by sight, but by 
 the bearing of the needle. 
 
 In this mournful and desolate thicket did the great 
 campaign of 1864 begin. Here in blind wrestle, as at 
 midnight, did two hundred tliousand men, in blue and 
 gray, clutch each other — bloodiest and weirdest of 
 encounters. Wat* had had nothing like it. The 
 genius of destruction, tired, apparently, of the old 
 commonplace killing, had invented " The Unseen 
 Death." 
 
 Let us now follow the great drama, scene by scene, 
 accompany its advance, step by step, to the fall of the 
 curtain. 
 
 Lee marching down from Orange, found himself, on 
 the morning of the 6th of ATay, in face of the enemy. 
 He had only two of his corps with him — those of Hill 
 and Ewell. Longstreet had not arrived from Gor- 
 donsville. 
 
 Ewell, on the left and in advance, occupied the Old 
 Turnpike, across which, as his troops amved, he 
 formed line of battle. Hill came by the Plank Eoad, 
 on the right of Ewell, and formed line there. These 
 two great highways, running from the west toward 
 Chancellorsville, struck straight into Grant's flank, as 
 he marched by way of the Brock Road toward the 
 South. 
 
 The Federal Generals had not believed that Lee 
 would have the boldness to advance and attack. They 
 were sure that he would fall back to the line of the 
 Central Eaih-oad to protect Eichmond. When the 
 gray-coats now appeared in their front, the force was 
 supposed to be merely a decoy to detain the Federal 
 
236 TEE WILDEBNES8. 
 
 army while Lee pressed forward toward Hanover 
 Jiiuction. 
 
 Gen. Meade, at least, thought so. On this morning 
 he was with Grant at Wilderness Tavern, and said : 
 
 " They have left a division to fool us here, while 
 they concentrate and prepare a position toward the 
 South Anna, and what I want is to prevent those fel- 
 lows from getting back to Inline Run." 
 
 Those fellows were Lee, Hill, and Ewell. They 
 were not intent on getting back to Mine Run, or fool- 
 ing anybody. On the contrary, they were bent on 
 fighting — a fact which soon became apparent. 
 
 At noon, the combat — a species of " feeler " pre- 
 ceding the bloody battle of the next day — began. 
 
 The head of Ewell's column had just formed line of 
 battle, across the Old Turnpike, when it was furiously 
 assailed by "Warren's corps of the Federal army. Then 
 came the tug. Warren's assault was so rapid and de- 
 termined that Ewell's fi'ont brio^ades were di'iven in on 
 his main body. There the enemy found, however, the 
 real wall. Ewell threw his remaining force into line 
 of battle ; advanced straight upon Warren ; swept 
 liim back ; seized two pieces of artillery, and about a 
 thousand prisoners ; and the whole Federal force was 
 crushed back into the thickets of the Wilderness from 
 which they had emerged. * 
 
 Such was the result of the first assault — made, ap- 
 
 *Tlie Federal loss in tMs fight was tliree thousand men, but 
 Ewell lost some of his best officers. Among these it may be per- 
 mitted the present writer to mention his dear friend, Colonel Wil- 
 liam W. Randolph, one of the bravest gentlemen of Virginia- 
 Peace to his ashes ! 
 
THE WILDERNESS. 237 
 
 parentlv, npon the theory that the Confederate force 
 was small, and could easily be destroyed. It was now 
 found to be formidable, and to occupy both the Turn- 
 pike and Plank Hoad. 
 
 An attack followed upon the force holding the lat- 
 ter. The thunder on the left had scarcely died away 
 when a heavy assault was made on A. P. Hill, extend- 
 ing across from Ewell's right. There an obstinate 
 attempt was again made by Gen. Grant to break 
 throuo'h and find out what was behind. 
 
 The attack was stubborn, the lines closing in, in a 
 rough wrestle; but no headway was made, though 
 Gen. Hancock put his best troops into the fight. " The 
 assaults," says Gen. Lee, " were repeated and desper- 
 ate, but every one was repulsed." When night fell, 
 the attack had completely failed in driving Hill from 
 his ground, and the Federal forces fell back to their 
 original position in the thickets, along the Brock 
 Poad, from which they had advanced. 
 
 Thus ended the first round. Pesult — nothing. 
 Gen. Grant had, however, discovered that nearly the 
 whole Confederate army was in front of him, bent on 
 a fight ; that if he did not attack, they would ; and he 
 resolved to bring on the battle at once. 
 
 Lee had come to the same resolution. The affair 
 seemed arranged in council of war between the two 
 commanders. Grant ordered an attack at five in the 
 morning — Lee ordered an attack at five in the morn- 
 ing. And at five, accordingly, on the morning of the 
 6th of May, the musketry began to rattle. 
 
 Then the opposing lines rushed together ; the thick- 
 
238 TEE WILDERNESS. 
 
 ets thundered witli the long crash of small arms, for 
 that was no place for artillery. 
 
 The battle of the Wilderness had begun in earnest. 
 
 It was a fiuious grapple all along the lines of the 
 two armies, rather than a battle in the ordinary mean- 
 ing of the term. There was no room for strategy — it 
 was useless to manoeuvre for position, when one spot 
 of ground was as good as another. Gen. Grant, at 
 least, seemed to have no plan beyond attacking his ad- 
 versary in front, and breaking him to pieces. 
 
 It speedily became apparent, however, that Gen. Lee 
 had a plan, and a thoroughly matured one. That plan 
 was to envelope the left flank of the Federal army, as 
 it stretched out along the Brock Road running south- 
 ward — attain the rear of their left wing, — and drive 
 back the whole army on the Rapidan. 
 
 At five, as we have said, the opponents closed in, 
 fiMitins: breast to breast almost, in the thicket. Each 
 had thrown up slight temporaiy breastworks of sap- 
 lings and dirt — beyond this they were unprotected. 
 The question now was which would succeed in driving 
 his advei-sary from these defences, almost within a few 
 yards of each other, and from behind which crackled 
 the musketry. 
 
 Xever was sight more curious than that. On the 
 low line of these works, dimly seen in the thicket, 
 rested the muzzles, spouting flame ; from the depths 
 rose cheers ; charges were made and repulsed, the lines 
 scarcely seeing each other ; men fell, and writhed, and 
 died, unseen; — their bodies lost in the thicket, their 
 death groans drowned in the steady, continuous, never- 
 ceasing crash. 
 
TEE WILDERN'ESS. 239 
 
 » 
 
 In fi-ont of Hill, holding the Confederate right, 
 Grant had massed his crack troops, determined, ap- 
 parently, to break throngh, or die trying. 
 
 The greatest merit of this officer was undoubtedly 
 his skill in massing for assault ; and Hill here felt his 
 heavy hand. He was borne back by the simple weight 
 of the mass thrown against him, and at seven o'clock 
 had been driven more than a mile on the army trains, 
 in front of which Stuart's cavalry made an obstinate 
 stand. Grant was pressing on — Lee's whole right 
 seemed carried away, his left, under Ewell, cut off 
 fi'om succor, — when at this moment Gen. Longstreet 
 appeared upon the scene. 
 
 That officer had marched from Gordonsville, fol- 
 lowed the Plank Road, pressed forward more rapidly 
 at the sound of the fii-ing, and now, as Hill fell back, 
 fighting obstinately, aided by Stuart, Longstreet came 
 to their assistance. 
 
 The Federal commander paused to reform his disor- 
 dered line before striking a decisive blow. When, 
 about nine o'clock, he advanced to deliver that blow, 
 he struck up against Longstreet and recoiled. 
 
 Then Lee took the initiative. Grasping the fresh 
 forces of Longstreet — ten thousand veteran troops, 
 upon whom long experience told him he could rely — 
 he hurled them against Hancock's corps in his front ; 
 swept away two divisions at the first blow; and advan- 
 cing steadily, drove back the whole left wing of the » 
 Federal army in confusion, to the line of Brock Eoad. 
 
 For the moment, then, everything was carried away. 
 Ko exertions of the Federal officers could rally the 
 
 % 
 
240 TEE WILDERNESS. 
 
 men. The troops broke, and a great victory seemed 
 about to crown the day. 
 
 Lee was pressing on ; his hand reached out to clutch 
 the Brock I^ad, and by that means turn the Federal 
 left. 
 
 " I thought we had another Bull Kun on you," said 
 Longstreet to a J^orthern writer, long afterwards, " for 
 I had made my dispositions to seize the Brock Koad." 
 
 To understand the significance of that threat, look 
 at the map. The Brock Road held by Lee, Grant was 
 shut up in the Wilderness. There was no more chance 
 for him than there had been for Hooker. lie was 
 flanked and huddled up in the thicket. 
 
 That moment was undoubtedly the turning point of 
 the whole campaign. But this sombre TTildemess 
 was hostile to the South. What shadowy Fate was it 
 that ever tracked the Confederates there ? — that stmck 
 do^vn Jackson at the instant when he was about to ex- 
 tend his left at Chancellorsville, and cut off Hooker — 
 that now struck down Longstreet when his right 
 reached out to cut off Grant ? 
 
 Longstreet had formed liis column for the great as- 
 sault ; the blow was about to be delivered — when 
 ridins: with his staff in fi'ont of his o^wn lines, he was 
 mistaken in the thicket for a Federal oJQicer, and fired 
 on, at twenty paces, by his own men, as Jackson had 
 been. 
 
 That fatal fire arrested everything for the time. 
 Longstreet was struck by a bullet in the throat, which, 
 inflictino; a danorerous wound there, buried itself in his 
 right shoulder, which was paralyzed for many months 
 afterwards. He was borne to the rear, along the ad- 
 
TEE WILDERNESS, 241 
 
 Yancing lines of his men, as Jackson had been — re- 
 turned their enthusiastic salutes, and disappeared, pale 
 and bleeding. 
 
 So fell Longstreet in his great moment, when he 
 seemed to hold the victory in his clenched hand. 
 
 Before Gen. Lee could arrive, and take the place 
 of his Lieutenant, the golden moment had passed. 
 More than three hours had been lost. The Federal 
 left, seeing its danger, had called for reinforcements ; 
 they had hurried to the threatened point ; when Lee 
 attacked in person, about four, p. m., Hancock's line 
 was thoroughly reformed, strengthened, and impregna- 
 ble. 
 
 It was no longer an enemy fleeing in confusion, but 
 a massive order of battle behind works which must be 
 carried by assault. 
 
 Above all, was the Brock Road looked to. That vi- 
 tal point was now guarded by a force which made the 
 hopes of carrying the position desperate. 
 
 Lee, nevertheless, attacked, and then came the veri- 
 table struggle, to which all that preceded had been 
 but the preface. 
 
 The spectacle was grand and terrible. The woods 
 had been set on fire ; flames crackled, dense clouds of 
 smoke rose ; fi-om that witch's cauldi'on of fii-e and 
 suffocating smoke rose cheers, groans, shouts, and the 
 long crash of musketry, as the lines closed in. Where 
 the wounded were struck down they fell ; where the 
 dying staggered, they breathed flame. It was a veri- 
 table hell " in httle." 
 
 Lee led the Texans of Gregg in person, into this 
 21 
 
242 THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 pandemonium, and it was here that the troops, seeing 
 the old cavalier exposing himself recklessly, shouted : 
 
 " To the rear ! To the rear ! " 
 
 That shout brought back the old days of Xapoleon 
 — the hour when he promised his men that if they 
 fought as he wished, he would not lead them and ex- 
 pose himself. 
 
 It was long before that protest of " Lee to the rear ! " 
 rising in a shout from the men, moved its object. At 
 moments like that, Lee was no longer the Commander- 
 in-Chief, but the sahreur. 
 
 The battle was now in full blast, and the Wilderness 
 was swept by a hurricane. The two armies were grap- 
 pling in the thicket ; and the combined forces of Hill 
 and Longstreet drove everything in their front. 
 
 As the gray masses rushed through the blazing 
 thicket, the blue lines gave way — the Confederates 
 dashed headlong to the works — and, storming them at 
 the point of the bayonet, planted their standards there, 
 and uttered a wild cheer, which rose above the din and 
 the flames. 
 
 The enemy's works were thus won, but they were 
 worthless. What were they in that crazy countr}^ 
 where there was no " position," and no " advantage of 
 ground " — where you could not see ten yards in your 
 front ? The enemy, nevertheless, made a vigorous ef- 
 fort to recover them, and th^ fighting continued until 
 night, when it terminated, leaving the two armies still 
 locked in that miserable thicket — neither driven. 
 
 On Lee's left, Ewell had had a hard tussle with Gen. 
 Sedgwick ; and here it was that Gordon, that brave of 
 braves, made an attack, which, if made in greater 
 
TEE WILDERNESS. 243 
 
 force, would have probably done for the right of the 
 Federal army what Longstreet endeavored to do 
 against its left — that is, envelope and crush in its 
 whole right wing. 
 
 It is useless to speak of Gordon to any old soldier of 
 the army. They know that brave soldier — that man 
 possessing the elan of Murat, with the coolness and acu- 
 men of the first army leaders of history. He nrged in 
 the morning a turning movement against the Federal 
 right, and it was not made. In the evening it was 
 seen to be the thought of a great soldier, and Gordon 
 was ordered to make it, and did make it. He advanced 
 upon Sedgwick, turned his flank, struck him with the 
 bayonet, drove the Federal troops in disorder from 
 their works, and was in the rear of Grant's army, ready 
 to " turn and rend it," when he was ordered to return. 
 
 He had broken to pieces the Federal right ; cap- 
 tured two of their Generals ; the ground was strewed 
 with muskets, knapsacks, and dead bodies — and on 
 the next morning it was found that the enemy had 
 abandoned the entire line of works on their right. 
 
 Such was Gordon's great blow. He did what he 
 could with his force. 
 
 Thus the battle had ended on the left as on the 
 right. 
 
 !N"either side had gained anything. 
 
 But Gen. Grant had made up his mind to one 
 thing — that he would get out of that wretched 
 countiy as soon as he possibly could. 
 
 He had attacked his adversary with all the troops at 
 his command, and instead of driving Lee, Lee had 
 driven him. It was therefore necessary to advance 
 
S44 THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 or retire — and Grant was not the man to retire 
 then. 
 
 He put his armj in motion ; hurried forward by the 
 Brock road toward Spottsylvania ; pressed on as rap- 
 idly as Stuart's cavalry would permit, and reached 
 Spottsylvania Court House, only to find Lee in his 
 front there. 
 
 In the gloomy depths of the Wilderness thickets lay 
 thousands of corpses in blue and gray — that was all. 
 
 The whipoorwill was crying fi'om the tangled un- 
 derwood. 
 
 The war-hounds had gone to tear each other else- 
 where. 
 
X 
 
 BY THE LEFT FLANK FEOM THE "hOESE-SHOE" TO THE 
 
 CKATEK. 
 
 Thkough the flame, the smoke, and the uproar of the 
 Wilderness thicket, we have seen the two great antag- 
 onists, Lee and Grant, reeling to and fi'O in that fierce 
 struggle of the 6th of May. 
 
 It was a veritable battle that was fought there — 
 sudden, unexpected, desperate — and it was the last 
 pitched battle of the war. 
 
 From that moment, all things changed. The revolu- 
 tion entered upon a new phase. Plainly, Grant could 
 only wear his opponent out by a policy of " attrition," 
 and Lee accepted the challenge, and prepared for the 
 ordeal. 
 
 To meet the blows of mace or battle-axe in the days 
 of chivalry, men put on armor. To sustain the impact 
 of Grant's sledge-hamme;-, in May, 1864, Lee cased his 
 lines in earthworks. The " attrition " of logs and dirt 
 was better than the attrition of flesh, blood, and mus- 
 cle. So after the 6th of May, Lee drew a line of 
 bayonets across Grant's path, and, in front of this steel 
 hedge, threw up breastworks. 
 
 The result vindicated the good judgment of the first 
 captain of modern times. 
 
 31* (345) 
 
246 BY THE LEFT FLANK. 
 
 Between tlie Rapidan and the Appomattox, about 
 two hundred thousand men threw themselves against 
 about sixty thousand, behind these works, and failed 
 utterly in breaking through. 
 
 Wliat this obstinate hammering of the Federal Thor 
 cost him, the official reports will show. The exhibit is 
 frightful. The " pegging away " programme had re- 
 sulted, on the 5th of June, that is to say, in one month 
 after the crossing of the Rapidan, in a Federal loss of 
 sixty thousand men — about the number of Lee's army. 
 
 To follow now in outline, but step by step, the great 
 wave of invasion. Every day saw an engagement more 
 or less bloody. Two or three times a month, however, 
 the Federal commander rushed madly ao-ainst his an- 
 taofonist behind these fatal works — a tremendous con- 
 flict followed, — and the blood and death of these red 
 days was frightful enough to distinguish them from 
 the rest, projecting them, in bold relief, dark, terrible 
 and tragic, from the rest of the great war canvas. 
 
 These fights were called the battles of the Horse- 
 Shoe, of Cold Harbour, and the Crater. Therein hor- 
 ror culminated ; blood did not flow, it gushed. 
 
 On the night of the 6th of May, in the Wilderness, 
 Gen. Grant awoke to the consciousness that he could 
 make no headway against Lee there ; and, as we have 
 seen, he moved rapidly by his left flank toward Spott- 
 sylvania Court House — that is to say, on the straight 
 road to Richmond. 
 
 Lee had foreseen this movement, and had prepared 
 for it. From the MS. statement of a confidential 
 officer of his staff, we take the following lines ; 
 
BT TEE LEFT ELAUK, 24:7 
 
 " Gen. Lee here displayed that faculty he possessed of divining' 
 and anticipating his opponent's intentions. It is believed by some 
 that Gen. Lee first moved, or retreated, toward Spotisylvania 
 Court House, and that Grant followed. Not so. After his success- 
 ful attack on Grant, he, all at once, seemed to conceive the idea 
 that his enemy was preparing to forsake his position, and move to- 
 ward Hanover Junction, Tia the Court House ; and, believing this, - 
 he at once detailed Anderson's division, with orders to proceed 
 rapidly toward the Court House. Gen. Grant first commenced the 
 movement in that direction, and Gen. Lee moved to 'check' him." 
 
 The writer of these lines attributes thus the move- 
 ment of Lee to the intuition of genius. It was, how- 
 ever, the result of military calculation. Grant was 
 defeated every where in the "Wilderness ; thus he was 
 certain to advance or retire. He was not retiring; 
 then he was advancing. The crack of cavalry carbines, 
 on the morning of the 7th, from the direction of Todd's 
 tavern, showed the truth of this surmise. In fact. 
 Grant's entire force was moving ; it hastened to Spott- 
 s}lvania Court House as rapidly as Stuart's cavalrv 
 would permit it ; and when it reached that point, there 
 again was the gray lion, Lee, in the path. Fitz Lee, 
 with his horsemen, had stubbornly held their ground 
 there — the gray infantry had now arrived. 
 
 Warren, hastening on to seize the key position, 
 struck up against the head of Longstreet's column on 
 the 8th, attacked with vigor, was repulsed with loss, 
 could, therefore, make no headway, and waited for the 
 rest. On the morning of May 9th, the two armies 
 found themselves in face of each other — the Federal 
 forces formed along the north bank of the Po river, 
 the Southern lines holding the south bank, and thus 
 barring the way to Richmond. 
 
248 BY THE LEFT FLANK. 
 
 Thus Lee — that stubborn obstacle — was still there 
 — worse than all he was entrenched. From right to 
 left extended, in front of Gen. Grant, a line of earth- 
 works which he must turn, or charge. 
 
 He tried the latter first, on the famous "12th of 
 May." 
 
 On the 10th, he had abeady assaulted Laurel Hill, 
 on the Confederate left, where there were no breast- 
 works, and had recoiled from it with a loss of five or 
 six thousand men. It was a hardy decision which the 
 Federal commander now adopted — to storm Lee's front. 
 
 The point selected for assault was the famous " Horse- 
 Shoe " — of bloody memory to the Southerners. 
 
 Did the reader of these lines fight there — either 
 clad in blue and attacking, or in gray, and receiving 
 that attack ? If so, no reference to the ground is nec- 
 essary. But for other readers, a few words are indis- 
 pensable. 
 
 However great Lee was as an engineer, and however 
 careful in selecting his ground, and in forming his 
 order of battle, that ground was often selected, that 
 order of battle formed by his subordinates — nay, by 
 the very rank and file. 
 
 A brigade marched, halted, foimd the enemy in 
 front, and straightway the men began to throw up a 
 dirt breastwork. This was done without orders, with- 
 out spades — at hap-hazard, and with the bayonet. 
 Thus it often happened that when Gen. Lee came to 
 the front, he found liis line of battle formed — some- 
 times according to rule, sometimes utterly opposed to 
 all rules. 
 
 From this origmated the Hoi*se-Shoe. It was a sa- 
 
 ' V 
 
BT TEE LEFT FLANK 
 
 249 
 
 lient projected from tlie main Hne — a species of trian- 
 gle, nearly north of the Court House, — and presented 
 a temptation to the enemy which no well-regulated 
 mihtary mind was capable of resisting. As soon as 
 Gen. Grant saw it, he determined to attack it. 
 
 Now, why, it may be asked, if the position was so 
 dangerous, did not Gen. Lee change his line, shorten- 
 ing ''and strengthening it ? The reply is, that to retire 
 a hne of battle in face of the enemy is easier to speak 
 of than to do. So the Horse-Shoe was left there. 
 
 On the morning of May 12th, Gen. Grant delivered 
 his great blow at this weak point in his adversary's 
 
 cuirass. 
 
 All night his forces were concentrating in front of 
 it. His design was to make a wedge of his best-tem- 
 pered troops, drive it into the Horse-Shoe, split that 
 stubborn obstacle, his opponent's line, and then, throw- 
 ing his whole army into the opening, separate Lee's 
 wings, and destroy him. 
 
 The plan was excellent. Humanly speaking, vdth 
 Lee's line once broken, his army was effectually dis- 
 rupted. Grant sa\v victoiy hovering for him in the 
 dim daA\Ti of that May morning. 
 
 As the first beams of day began to struggle through 
 the mist, the great war-engine began to move. The 
 crack corps selected for the Federal wedge advanced 
 without noise, came on the Confederate skirmishers 
 some hundreds of yards in front, walked over them 
 without firing a shot, for fear of giving the alarm, and 
 then, as day began to dawn, the column of assault 
 dashed with mid cheers up to the Hoi^se-Shoe. 
 
 The result was terrible— the blow almost mortal. 
 
250 BY THE LEFT FLANK. 
 
 The attack was wholly unexpected, and, as the artil- 
 lery defending that portion of the line had been retired 
 on the evening before, its warning voice, calling to 
 arms, was not heard. 
 
 The Confederate infantry manning the works, woke 
 fi'om sleep to feel the bayonet thrust into their breasts. 
 The Federal infantry mounted the works almost unop- 
 posed, swarmed in the trenches, fusilladed the half- 
 awake Southerners, bayoneted some, stabbed, thrust, 
 cut at others, drove the whole force from the Horse- 
 Shoe, in spite of heroic resistance, and a rolling thun- 
 der of cheers rose from the woods, electric with vic- 
 tory. 
 
 "We have said " in spite of heroic resistance," and the 
 resistance of those half-awake, almost unarmed men, 
 was heroic. It is nothing to trained soldiers to fight in 
 open field, in broad day, with lines formed, artillery in 
 position, the enemy there in fi*ont, man against man, 
 bayonet against bayonet, with the banner fioating in 
 the sun, and the army leaders in front, directing all. 
 Then, even the timid gather heart, and do their duty 
 in action ; shoulder to shoulder the men advance to the 
 assault. 
 
 But to be surprised in the dark hour just preceding 
 day — to be attacked in sleep — to be waked from a 
 dream of home, and wife, and children, by a bayonet- 
 thrust — to start up and utter a cry, with which blood 
 mingles — to shout "to arms!" and then to fallback 
 in a pool of gore — to see your enemy swarming every- 
 where, and shooting down all who resist — to hear dia- 
 bolical cries, hoarse exclamations, curses, menaces, yells, 
 and to feel that all is over before the fi^ht has beojun — 
 
BY TEE LEFT FLANK. 251 
 
 that is enoTigh to try stout nerves, and test soldiership. 
 The men who tight then are brave ; heroic resistance 
 to an attack like that shows race and blood. The re- 
 sistance of the Southern infantry in the Ilorse-Shoe 
 that morning was the resistance of true soldiers. Start- 
 ing from slumber, their first thought was the musket, 
 and the clutch on the weapon followed. Then com- 
 menced a fight in the trenches which had in it some- 
 thino; diabolical and fearful. Men fell and died in the 
 darkness ; breasts were pierced by unseen bayonets ; 
 invisible clubbed muskets dealt blows in the dark ; a 
 wild and terrible wrestle, as of nightmares incarnate, 
 took place in the trenches. 
 
 Quick reports, then the sudden crack of a fusillade, 
 then the roar of a few cannon — that was all. The 
 Federal troops dashed on the guns, and tore the lan- 
 yards from the hands of the cannoneers. Capt. Wil- 
 liam Page Carter bravely rushed to his single gun, 
 with his own hands fired it mitil the enemy caught his 
 arm, and made him prisoner; then, that last gun si- 
 lenced, the drama ended. 
 
 The Horse-Shoe was taken, and two or three thou- 
 sand men of Johnson's division, with eighteen pieces 
 of artillery, just hurried forward, captured. Federal 
 cheers vibrated in the morning air above the woods and 
 orchards — the Confederates had ceased to fio^ht — 
 were dead, dpng, or retreating. 
 
 Then came the moment when great generals crush 
 their opponents. If the JSTorthem army had poured 
 into that fatal gap, and rushed straight upon Lee, it is 
 not too much to say that he would have been driven 
 from his position. But its movements were delayed. 
 
252 BT THE LEFT FLANK. 
 
 Time passed. "When Gen. Grant had made his prepa- 
 rations and advanced, he found his opponent in a new 
 position — with a line straighter, shorter, stronger — 
 and every gray soldier ready to receive the great as- 
 sault. 
 
 It was made, and it raged from dawn to evening, 
 but accomplished nothing. The Southern lines, fight- 
 ing in the open field, did not budge an inch. Wlien 
 night descended, the great success of the Horse-Shoe 
 had brought no result to the Federal commander, ex- 
 cept the mere capture of some prisoners and artillery. 
 Then with night came rest; new breastworks rose, 
 crowned with artillery ; the Confederates were laugh- 
 ing and saying, "Come on, we are ready ! " 
 
 In front of this line Gen. Grant remained more 
 than a week, moving to and fro, reconnoitering, dem- 
 onstrating, feehng everywhere for an opening in his 
 adversary's breastplate. There was none, and yet that 
 op)ening was indispensable for successful assault. The 
 hammer had been clanging for weeks now, and no 
 joint was loosened. It was e\ddent that the anvil 
 would not break. Somewhere the sword's point must 
 glide in, but that somewhere eluded the most vigilant 
 search. 
 
 Demonstrations, movements, "manoeuvring" — the 
 much despised manoeuvi-ing — amounted to nothing. 
 Grant's crescent-shaped Hne revolved around his oppo- 
 nent's right ; but there, when it arrived, was the Lee- 
 crescent awaiting it. Another revolution — there still 
 was Lee. 
 
 Then, one morning, when the Confederate com- 
 mander was about to extend his right still farther, to 
 
BY THE LEFT FLANK, 253 
 
 meet a new movement of liis adversary, a swift-riding 
 courier brought him a dispatch, which he read with 
 calm attention. Grant was moving his left flank 
 toward Hanover Jmiction ; he had given np all further 
 attacks npon Lee in Spottsylvania. Grant hastened 
 foward through the woods and fields; headed straight 
 for Hanover Junction ; arrived ; threw a column over 
 the ISTorth Anna — and saw Lee awaiting him. 
 
 He reached the river on the 23rd of May; on the 
 26th he had given up in despair the attempt to defeat 
 Lee there. Some hard fighting is summed up and 
 passed over in that brief statement. Were we to 
 describe all the hard fighting of this bloody campaign, 
 the present sketch would be swollen into a volume. 
 
 One feature of this occasion, however, is worthy of 
 note — Lee's peculiar order of battle. Between the 
 two commanders lay the river. Grant's object was to 
 force its passage. To accomplish this, with the least 
 possible loss, he threw a colimm over on Lee's left, and 
 one on his right, thinking, doubtless, that this move- 
 ment would induce his adversary to retire his line. 
 
 The line was not retired. Lee seemed determined, 
 here to act upon the maxim of JSTapoleon never to do 
 what your enemy wishes you to do — if for no other 
 reason, simply because he wishes you to do it. So, 
 instead of retiring, Lee threw back his right and left 
 wings, clinging with his centre to the river — his army 
 taking thus the form of two sides of an equilateral 
 triangle. One might have fancied a grim humour in 
 this movement. It forced Gen. Grant to make two 
 river crossings if he wished to reinforce either ^dng by 
 moving troops from the other. The "situation" evi- 
 29 
 
254: BT THE LEFT FLANK. 
 
 dently displeased the Federal commander. He re- 
 crossed his columns, and on the night of the 26th 
 withdrew quietly, and with secrecy, toward the lower 
 Pamunkey, intending to cross at Hanovertown, and 
 hurry foward upon Richmond. 
 
 On the 27th he was over at Hanovertown ; hastened 
 on ; reached the Tottapotamoi, a sluggish stream of 
 the Hanover slashes, and there, on the southern bank 
 of the water course, was Lee. 
 
 Then the thunder recommenced. The great ham- 
 mering operation went on night and day — infantry 
 wrestled, cavalry clashed, artillery roared. The days 
 were waked and put to sleep with thunder. 
 
 In Grant's path still lay the old lion, shaking from 
 his mane every javelin launched against him, and 
 watching his opportunity to spring, or ready to meet 
 the spring of his huge adversary. It was at Cold Har- 
 bour, on the 3rd of June, that they clutched. 
 
 Reaching that point by his incessant flank move- 
 ment, on the 1st of June, Gen. Grant, on the 3rd, 
 made another assault like his attack on the Horse- 
 Shoe. 
 
 This was the battle of Cold Harbour, Xumber Two. 
 
 Strange freak of chance, — the unskilled reader may 
 exclaim, — which rolled the wave of battle to the Kew 
 Kent fields a second time, pouring out more blood 
 there, now, in June, 1864, than there was poured out 
 in June, 1862. Xo — in war there is no chance; 
 there is law. There is a goddess more powerful than 
 the Greek Kecessitv, with her iron wedsre — it is the 
 Terrain. In all coming ages, as in June, 1862 and 
 1864, an enemy attempting to force the Chickahom- 
 
BY THE LEFT FLANK, 255 
 
 iny and assail Richmond, must fight near Cold Har- 
 bour. 
 
 Grant was compelled to fight there, or to continue 
 his Wandering- Jew march — and he fought. 
 
 As in Spottsjlvania, he selected early dawn for his 
 time of attack, and at dawn, on June 3, he assailed 
 Lee's whole front — not manoeuvring at all, but attack- 
 ing as the bull attacks — head down, and determined 
 to sweep awaj every obstacle, or crack the osfrontis. 
 
 Thus, that fight was not a battle so much as a butch- 
 ery. No other word so well describes it. The mad 
 combat was over in thirty minutes, and it cost Gen. 
 Grant thirteen thousand men. Lee's loss was about as 
 many score. 
 
 How to describe such a conflict ? There is nothing 
 to describe. There was no brainwork of the com- 
 mander about it; it was simply and purely a brute 
 rush upon breastworks, and a carnival of death. 
 
 It may not be just to Gen. Grant to say that, with 
 the information before him, he ought not to have 
 made that attack, for all the authorites go to show that 
 in the Federal army at that time, there was an almost 
 universal conviction that the Army of Northern Vir- 
 ginia was nearly disorganized aud thoroughly demoral- 
 ized by the tremendous battles of the Wilderness and 
 Spottsylvania. Grant, doubtless, believed that he had 
 no other alternative than to force the Chickahominy ; 
 that a short, sharp, and decisive blow might be bloody, 
 but would attain that object; that the attempt was 
 thus worth making, in view of the mighty results 
 attending success. 
 
256 BY THE LEFT FLANK. 
 
 Let military critics decide the question. We nar- 
 rate. 
 
 At half -past four in the morning, Grant made a 
 resolute attack on Lee's entire front. The men moved 
 forward bravely got nearly ; up to the breastworks in 
 many places ; did all they could ; but every where, in 
 thirty minutes — that is, by five o'clock — were hurled 
 back by the merciless Confederate fire — or they were 
 dead and dying in front of the works. 
 
 Gen. Lee sent to A. P. Hill to ask the result of the 
 attack on him. Hill took the officer with him, in 
 front of his line of works, and showed him the Federal 
 dead piled up and lying on each other. 
 
 " Tell Gen. Lee it is the same all along my fi'ont," 
 he said. 
 
 And it was the same, or nearly, along the front of 
 the whole army. 
 
 The Federal troops had done all that men could do. 
 The impossible was beyond their strength. They felt 
 the hopeless character of the undertaking after that 
 first charge, and doggedly refused to make another 
 attempt. The order fi'om Gen. Grant was transmitted 
 to the corps commanders, thence to the commanders of 
 divisions, thence to the brigadiers, thence to the colo- 
 nels, thence to the captains, and the captains drew 
 their swords, placed themselves in fi'ont of their men, 
 and ordered, " Forward ! " 
 
 Xo response came. The men did not move. The 
 old soldiers of the Army of the Potomac knew what 
 they could do, and what they could not do. They 
 could not carry the Confederate works, and they did 
 not intend to go and get killed in front of them. This 
 
BY TRE LEFT FLANK. 257 
 
 is the Federal account of what took place in that army 
 on the morning of June 3, 1864. 
 
 About one o'clock in the day, a profound silence 
 settled down upon the two armies. T^ot even a skir- 
 misher's musket cracked. Gen. Grant had lost, as we 
 have said, thirteen thousand men. His whole loss, 
 fi'om the Kapidan to this time, amounted to about 
 sixty thousand. Lee's was about eighteen thousand. 
 That was the result of attackinsj breastworks and of 
 fighting behind them. Taking the casualties as a test, 
 those breastworks had tripled Lee's strength. 
 
 The bloody work of June 3, settled the question 
 whether Gen. Grant could force the Chickahominy. 
 He found that movement beyond his strength, and, on 
 the 12th, recommenced his left flank advance — this 
 time across the Chickahominy, and across the James, 
 on Petersburg. There he would commence the siege 
 of [Richmond. 
 
 From the first, that had been the true card to play. 
 There were only two men who seemed to know it — 
 Lee and McClellan. 
 
 Lee had said, as far back as 1861, that this was the 
 weak side of Richmond, for an attack there threatened 
 the Confederate communications with the South. And 
 McClellan, after his defeat at Cold Harbour, had 
 urged, as Gen. Halleck's letters show, the adoption of 
 the very scheme which Gen. Grant now carried into 
 effect. 
 
 What was declared absurd in 1862, was now, in 1864, 
 
 seen to be dictated by the soundest military science. 
 
 Defeated at Cold Harbour, Grant made for Petersburg, 
 
 and nearly surprised and seized the town ; but Lee ar- 
 22* 
 
258 BY THE LEFT FLANK, 
 
 rived, and a powerful line of works was drawn around 
 the place. By the last of July, Gen. Grant had sat 
 down before Petersburg, determined, apparently, on 
 not only " fighting it out on this line, if it took all the 
 Bummer," but many summers. 
 
 Honour to obstinate resolve, and the heart that does 
 not despair ! Grant had them. 
 
 "We have placed at the head of this sketch the titles 
 of the three great struggles, par excellence, which 
 marked the immense campaign, extending from the 
 crossing of the Rapidan, in May, 1864, to the capture 
 of Petersburg, in April, 1865. In the fighting of that 
 bloody year — fighting incessant, stubborn, never-re- 
 laxing, full of trained fury and mathematical impetus 
 — in this terrible carnival of death, three days are 
 bloodiest, shining with a light more baleful than the 
 rest. These were the davs of the Horse-Shoe, of Cold 
 Harbour, and what we call the " Crater " — that is to 
 say, the assault following the explosion of the mine 
 near Petersburg, on the 30th of July. To this latter 
 we now proceed. 
 
 The mine was devised by one of the Federal colo- 
 nels, and was long looked upon very coldly by both 
 Generals Meade and Burnside. Gen. Grant seemed 
 not to be aware of the project. 
 
 The originator of the idea, nevertheless, worked at 
 it with all the patience of an inventor, who feels that, 
 however much he may be disregarded now, he will, 
 some day, astonish the world. 
 
 The point selected was near Petersburg, on the 
 south bank of the river, and as the opposing lines here 
 approached very near each other, it seemed feasible to 
 
BT TEE LEFT FLANK. 259 
 
 run a subterranean passage beneath the Confederate 
 works, and blow them up. 
 
 Once undertaken, the work was prosecuted with 
 ardor. The workmen successfully eluded the atten- 
 tion of the Confederates. The dirt was carried off in 
 cracker-boxes ; the long hole grew longer ; the mine 
 was becoming a great success — and then Gen. Burn- 
 side began to see in it a very brilliant project. 
 
 Toward the end of July it was done. It was about 
 five hundred feet long ; had lateral galleries ; in these 
 galleries were placed kegs of powder, sufficient, it was 
 supposed, to blow up a mountain ; all was ready. 
 
 Then came the question how to utilize the grand ex- 
 plosion. It was not worth the while of Gen. Grant to 
 go to all this trouble only to destroy a company or a 
 regiment, at the point in question. Ob\dously, the 
 project admitted of greater results. Lee's lines would 
 be broken; his defences overthrown; if, amid the 
 noise and confusion, the smoke and the uproar, a crack 
 division were to charge over the debris, push on, seize 
 a high crest behind the " Crater," and root themselves 
 firmly there, would not Lee's line be disrupted, his 
 position right and left be rendered untenable, and the 
 most important results, if not the destruction of the 
 Confederates, be attainable ? 
 
 The prospect was exciting, and all at once a vivid 
 interest in the famous mine was betrayed by the higher 
 officers, who, up to that time, had looked sidewise at 
 the cracker-box operation as the dream of a visionary. 
 
 The movement to seize the crest in rear was speedily 
 determined upon, and elaborate preparations were 
 made to deliver the great blow, and follow it up. 
 
260 B7 THE LEFT FLANK.. 
 
 All at once, however, a singular obstacle presented 
 itself — an embarrassing question. What division 
 should make the great charge ? Should a white divi- 
 sion or a black division be selected ? 
 
 A division of the white troops was selected — by 
 "pulling straws," Gen. Grant afterwards said, in his 
 quiet, sarcastic wav. The negro troops were not to 
 have the honour — they were to follow. 
 
 " The first and great cause of disaster," said the Con- 
 gressional Committee, which afterwards investigated 
 the facts, " was the emjployment of white troojps instead 
 of Hack troojps to make the charge ! " 
 
 What a statement ! "Why that " unkindest cut of 
 all" to the brave Army of the Potomac? Did they 
 deserve it ? — that army of veterans, who had poured out 
 their blood upon half a hundred battle-fields, who had 
 borne aloft the United States flag amid the thunder of 
 such conflicts as the world has rarely seen, who had 
 met the whole power of the Confederacy for three 
 mortal years ; standings erect where the ground was 
 slippery with blood ; fighting still, on fields where hope 
 had deserted them ; maintaining, in the dark day as in 
 the bright, in the tempest as in the sunshine, that heart 
 of hope which springs from courage and devotion ! 
 Unkindest of all, truly, was that cut of the Congres- 
 sional Committee's poinard — " The first and great 
 cause of disaster was the emjployment of white instead 
 of hlacJc troojps to maJce the charge ! " 
 
 At half-past four, on the morning of July 30th, a 
 great roar, heard for thirty miles, came from the point 
 selected, and under the feet of Lee's soldiers manning 
 the breastworks opened the crater of a volcano. 
 
BY TEE LEFT FLANK. 261 
 
 Men were hurled into the air, mere mangled corpses, 
 or torn to pieces where they stood. Cannon were 
 lifted as by the hand of a giant and thrown hnndreds 
 of feet. Where a moment before had stretched a line 
 of breastworks, defended by infantry and artillery, was 
 now seen a hideous pit one hundred and fifty feet 
 long, sixty feet wide, and thirty feet deep. 
 
 From this had issued a great column of flame and 
 smoke, as of Etna in travail; and now, this terrible 
 crater was a mass of mangled bodies, broken gun-car- 
 riages, barrels of cannon; a heterogeneous, hideous, 
 smoking debris of burnt flesh, burnt equipments, and 
 men gasping in the death agony, with flame licking 
 and smoke suffocating them. 
 
 Then came the charge. A white division rushed 
 forward, followed by negro troops, and before any 
 resistance could be made by the Confederates, they had 
 passed over the narrow space between the lines, 
 mounted the acclivity, reached the Crater — they were 
 within the Confederate lines. 
 
 So far, all had gone well, and there seemed every 
 probability that Gen. Lee would be forced to fight a 
 desperate battle for the possession of the commanding 
 crest in rear of the point at which the mine had been 
 exploded. That crest was not a mere point of military 
 advantage, but a key position. Holding it, as we have 
 Baid, the enemy would be firmly planted in the very 
 centre of his line of battle ; they would command the 
 works to the right and left of it, rendering them unten- 
 able ; at one blow Lee would be diiven to take up an 
 interior line, and that is an operation of the utmost 
 delicacy when pushed by a victorious enemy. 
 
262 BY THE LEFT FLANK. 
 
 The importance of a rapid and vigorons advance to 
 the crest referred to has never been called in question. 
 That it was not done, profoundly enraged the North, 
 and especially the Congressional Committee ; but the 
 origin of the complete failure of the affair appears to 
 us attributable to other causes than the " emploj^nent 
 of white instead of black troops to charge." 
 
 Instead of commenting, we narrate. Let the reader 
 judge. 
 
 The "white division" charged, reached the Crater, 
 stumbled over the debris, were suddenly met by a mer- 
 ciless fii-e of artillery, enfilading them right and left — 
 of infantry fusillading them in front; faltered, hesi- 
 tated, were badly led, lost heart, gave up the plan of 
 seizing the crest, huddled into the Crater, man on top 
 of man, company mingling with company ; and then, 
 npon this disordered, unstrung, quivering mass of hu- 
 man beings, white and black — for the black troops 
 had followed — was poured a humcane of shot, shell, 
 canister, musketry, which made the hideous Crater a 
 slaughter-pen, horrible and frightful beyond the power 
 
 of words. 
 
 All order was lost; all idea of charging the crest- 
 abandoned. Lee's infantrv was seen concentrating^ for 
 the carnival of death; his artillery was massing to 
 destroy the remnant of the charging division ; those who 
 deserted the Crater to scramble over the debris and run 
 back, were shot down ; then, all that was left to that 
 struggling, huddling, shuddering mass of blacks and 
 whites in the pit, was to shrink lower, evade the horri- 
 ble mitraille^ and wait for a counter-charge of their 
 fi'iends, to rescue them, or surrender. 
 
BY THE LEFT FLAI^K. 263 
 
 Such had been the result of the great explosion and 
 charge to cut Lee's line — a mass of disorganized 
 troops, torn to pieces by a fire which they scarcely 
 attempted to return. They were swallowed up in that 
 pit which their own hands had dug ; they were being 
 butchered. Gen. Mahone, turning away fi*om the 
 spectacle, muttered : 
 
 " Stop the fire ! It makes me sick ! " 
 
 Of the force that charged there, a few only went 
 back — the rest were dead, wounded, or prisoners. 
 
 The Federal loss was four thousand men. 
 
 So ended the affair of the " Crater," as the Confed- 
 erates called it — the "Mine," as the Federals entitled 
 it. 
 
 It was the singular termination of a singular cam- 
 paign; for in all the annals of the war, there is no 
 stranger chapter than that over-land campaign of Gen. 
 Grant. Beginning with a blind, invisible combat in 
 the depths of a tangled thicket on the Eapidan, it 
 ended for the moment here, on the shores of the Appo- 
 mattox, in a hideous Crater, where the dead and dying, 
 like the rest, were torn to pieces, amid smoke and 
 flame, with every circumstance of horror. The war 
 had thus gro^\Ti brutal, terrific, instinct with a species 
 of barbarous fury. Men no longer fought pitched bat- 
 tles in open fields; they grappled in thickets, or in 
 dark mornings before they would see each other, or 
 they were hurled into the air by subterranean explo- 
 sions. To kill — no matter how — seemed the great 
 aim and object of the combatants. The wild beast was 
 aroused, and in the very clergyman in the pulpit that 
 
264 BY TEE LEFT FLANK, 
 
 spirit of the wild animal is dormant. Judge if it is 
 wanting in the rank and file of an army. 
 
 It was this spirit of the tiger that we have seen at 
 its revels, on the days of the Horse-shoej Cold Har- 
 bour, and the Crater. 
 
 But nothing decisive was accomplished. 
 
 It is true that Lee's rapier was wearing. The 
 sledge-hammer could not break it, but "attrition" 
 could wear away the blade. Slowly, it grew thinner. 
 The edge cut still ; how it cut the world knows — at 
 Hatcher's Kun, Hare's Hill, The White Oak Eoad— in 
 a hundred places — but the time was approaching when 
 it must give way. 
 
 In the last of these sketches, we shall show the 
 reader that keen and trenchant weapon flashing its old 
 lightnings in the grasp of Lee. 
 
 It snapped at Appomattox in that stalwart hand ; 
 but, when Lee returned the stump to its scabbard, 
 there was not a single stain upon the blade. 
 
 It was the mirror, like its master, of antique faith 
 and honour. 
 
XI. 
 
 eaely's battles. 
 
 On the afternoon of July 11, 1864, any one who had 
 ascended the dome of the Capitol at Washington, a 
 pair of field-glasses in hand, might have seen to the 
 northward, beyond Fort Stevens, through the hot air, 
 rising and rippling, like the breath of a furnace, long, 
 gray lines of infantry, tipped with flashing bayonets, 
 grim cannon coming steadily into position, and red 
 flags clinging to their staffs in the sultry evening, but 
 not so closely as to be taken for the banners of the 
 United States. 
 
 In fact, those were Conf edetate infantiy. Confeder- 
 ate artillery, and Confederate flags. St. Andrew's 
 Cross, instead of Stars and Stripes, gray instead of 
 blue, was there in front of Washington. The capitol 
 was threatened ; all was in commotion ; when a cloud 
 of skirmishers advanced, and cannon began to roar, a 
 JSTorthern writer declares that " the hope at head-quar- 
 ters that the capital could be saved from capture was 
 very slender." 
 
 The aim of this sketch is to describe in rapid sum- 
 mary the events which preceded and followed this 
 event. 
 
 Lee was fighting Grant on the Chickahominy when 
 (265) 
 
266 EARLY'S BATTLES. 
 
 intelligence came that Hunter was advancing up the 
 Shenandoah Yalley, burning and destroying mills, 
 bams and dwelling houses, on his way to Lynchburg. 
 It was absolutely necessary to protect that place ; it 
 was an important depot, and commanded Lee's com- 
 munications with the south-west — thus a strong de- 
 tachment was sent forward fi'om the Chickahominy to 
 check Hunter's advance. 
 
 This force was placed under command of Gen. 
 Early, and his orders were bnef and explicit. They 
 were to "move to the Yallev throu2:h Swift Kun 
 Gap, or Brown's Gap, attack Hunter, and then cross 
 the Potomac and threaten Washington." * 
 
 The column placed at the disposition of Early was 
 about eight thousand men. 
 
 Without delay he pushed after Hunter, who was al- 
 ready near Lynchburg. At his approach the Federal 
 commander made a feeble effort to defend himself, 
 but, before Early's resolute attack, his lines gave way. 
 Then once in motion they did not stop. - Gen. Hun- 
 ter had mercilessly harried the women and children of 
 the Yalley, but when bayonets came, he disappeared. 
 Early was on his track, destroyed great masses of his 
 stores, drove him rapidly — soon Gen. Hunter was 
 fleeing wildly through the Alleghanies, westward, like 
 a planet hurled from its orbit into space. When he 
 reached the Ohio, far fi'om all connection with the 
 main army, he commanded only a handful. Early 
 was advancing on Washington. 
 
 The march of the Confederate commander was 
 
 * MS. statement of Gen. Early, in exile at Toronto. 
 
EARLY'S BATTLES, 267 
 
 rapid. On the 3d of July he was at Martinsburg, and 
 drove Siegel into Maryland. On the 8th of Jnly, he 
 was at Monocacy, near Frederick City, and had de- 
 feated Gen. Wallace in a battle of great fnry. On 
 the afternoon of the 11th of Jnly, as we have said, his 
 troops came in sight of Washington. 
 
 Considering the condition of the weather, this march 
 was tremendons. Under the bnrning snn of July, the 
 men had tramped on steadily, scarce pausing at night ; 
 and, though thousands could not keep up and hun- 
 dreds dropped by the way, there at last was the long- 
 coTeted dome of the capitol in sight ; under those 
 roofs. President, heads of departments, citizens, were 
 trembling for the safety of the city. 
 
 Such had been Lee's great coicp de main to deplete 
 Grant's army. He was hemmed in at Petersbui'g, but 
 one hundred and fifty miles from that great arena, 
 voices called upon Gen. Grant for succor against im- 
 pending destruction from the very adversary whom he 
 had driven to bay. 
 
 The blow failed, the reader will say. Yes, but it 
 very nearly succeeded — nearly accomplished a double 
 object. Washington narrowly escaped capture — 
 Grant narrowly escaped a peremptory order from the 
 President of the United States to evacuate his lines at 
 Petersburg, and return to the defence of the capital. 
 
 That was the moment when a single trait of the 
 Federal commander was worth to his government a 
 thousand millions. He clung to his earthworks still, 
 in front of Lee, sending only a detachment. And that 
 detachment arrived in time, and was sufficient. 
 
 On the afternoon of Julv 11th, it seems possible that 
 
268 EARLY'S BATTLES, 
 
 Early might have captured Washington. His force 
 was small, from the rapidity of his march under that 
 burning sun ; but the enemy's was smaller. Tliis was 
 probably unknown to him, however, and he waited 
 until the next day. But then the Sixth and ]S^ine- 
 teenth Corps of Grant's army had arrived, and wlien 
 the Confederates pushed up to the works, they saw in 
 front of them the serried ranks, and the familiar 
 hedge of bayonets, of their old foe, the Ai-my of the 
 Potomac. 
 
 Then they knew what to expect. War is better 
 than an introduction in saloons. Men who fio:ht know 
 each other, and there never were more intimate ac- 
 quaintances than the Army of the Potomac and the 
 AiTQy of Korthem Virginia. 
 
 On the evening of the 12th the Federal infantry 
 salhed forth, and the blades clashed. Earlv's loss was 
 nothing, but he saw that the captm-e of the city was 
 impossible — that Hunter, Siegel, and their compeers 
 were ready to close in on liis rear from Hai'per's Ferry 
 — that, front and rear, he was menaced by an over- 
 powering force. He determined, therefore, like a 
 good soldier, to withdraw, and that very night his 
 lines were in motion for the Shenandoah Valley. 
 
 Petreating toward Frederick ^\dth the suppHes which 
 he had collected, he recrossed the Potomac, near Lees- 
 burg, pushed on through the Blue Pidge, where he 
 had a heavy skirmish with the enemy, and was once 
 more back in the Shenandoah Yalley, whither the 
 Tenth and Nineteenth Corps of the Federal army, 
 under General Hunter, were sent to keep the daring 
 raider in check. 
 
EABLT'S BATTLES. 269 
 
 niinter's success was mediocre. It was an admi- 
 rable- exhibition of partisan warfare on a large scale 
 — that series of movements which followed on the 
 part of Early. Gen. Hunter had no rest. He dared 
 not advance beyond Charlestown, and, with an army 
 about four times the size of Early's, was completely 
 checkmated. Unhappily, this bad fortune reacted 
 on the inhabitants. Gen. Hunter seemed to have 
 woes to avenge on somebody. He burned, near 
 Chariest own — it was his own order — the handsome 
 dwelling house of his cousin, Andrew Hunter, while 
 the daughters of that gentleman occupied it. Ten 
 minutes were given them to retire. Why this was' 
 done, it is impossible for the present writer to say. 
 The problem is curious, for men are not generally wil- 
 ling to make their names execrated without reason. 
 
 At the end of July, it was seen that Gen. Hunter 
 could do nothing, and Gen. Sheridan replaced him. 
 The camj)aign of the summer and fall, which attracted 
 so much attention to the Shenandoah Yalley — which 
 blazed with the fights of the Oj)equon, Fisher's Hill, 
 and Cedar Creek — then commenced. 
 
 Early's force was under twelve thousand men of all 
 arms. Of this statement, we will speedily present the 
 j)roof . What was the enemy's ? 
 
 " To the column of active operation under Sheridan's 
 command," says an able Korthern writer,* "consisting 
 of the Sixth and l^ineteenth Corps, and the infantry 
 and cavalry of West Yirginia, under Generals Crook 
 and Averill, were added two divisions of cavalry from 
 
 * Mr. William Swinton in "Army of the Potomac," p. 556. 
 
270 EABLT'S BATTLES, 
 
 the Army of the Potomac, under Torbert and Wilson, 
 This gave him an effective force in the field of forty 
 thousand men, whereof ten thousand consisted of 
 excellent cavalry — an arm for the use of which the 
 Shenandoah regions affords a fine field." 
 
 Sheridan assumed command early in the month of 
 August, but did little or nothing with his large force 
 until late in September. Why he thus remained inac- 
 tive, it is hard to say. He had forty thousand men 
 and Early about ten thousand effective. Gen. Early 
 describes his adversary as constitutionally cautious and 
 timid, but he acted with vigor and decision afterwards. 
 However this may be. Gen. Sheridan did nothing 
 until Gen. Grant came to visit him. 
 
 This was in September, and Sheridan's lines were 
 along the Opequon, threatening Early's opposite, and 
 covering Winchester. He urged an attack on the 
 Confederate forces. Grant looked at the situation, 
 came to a decision, and said to him, " Go in." * 
 
 On the 19th, Sheridan accordingly went in, and the 
 battle of the Opequon followed. 
 
 So much has been written about this action, and 
 events at the moment attracted so much attention to 
 it, and gave it such celebrity at the Xorth, that we 
 fear our sketch will appear unworthy of the subject. 
 Calmly looked at now, in the light of all the facts, it 
 geems the greatest burlesque of the war. 
 
 Gen. Sheridan had from thirty thousand to thirty- 
 five thousand infantry, and about ten thousand cavalry, 
 the best mounted and equipped that had yet taken the 
 field. 
 
 * See Grant's report. 
 
EABLT'S BATTLES. 271 
 
 Early had eight thousand five hundred infantry, 
 and less than three thousand cavalry, the worst 
 equipped and mounted that had yet fronted an enemy 
 on the soil of the continent. 
 
 This great disproportion was indignantly denied, 
 afterwards, by Gen. Sheridan, and Early insulted in 
 his exile for stating the truth. Here are some data 
 to form an opinion upon. It is worth stopping for a 
 moment to look at them. 
 
 " I know of my own personal knowledge," wrote a 
 Confederate States officer, in the Xew Orleans Pica- 
 yune, Jan. 13, 1866, "that Gen. Early's statement is 
 correct, when he states that he had about eight thou- 
 sand five hundred muskets in the second engagement 
 Vvdth Gen. Sheridan. I was a staff officer for four 
 years in the Army of l^orthern Virginia. I was a 
 division staff officer. Second Army Corps, under Gen. 
 Early's command, from the time the Second Corps 
 was detached from the Army of Is^orthern Virginia, 
 June, 1864, to the time it was ol'dered to Petersburg, 
 December 1864. I was present at the battles of "Win- 
 chester, (or Opequon,) Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek. 
 I know from the official reports which I myself made, 
 and fi'om actual observation at reviews, drills, inspec- 
 tions in camp, and on the march, the effective strength 
 of every brigade and di^-ision of infantry under Gen. 
 Early's command, (of the cavalry and artillery I can- 
 not speak so authoritatively,) and I can therefore 
 assert that in neither one of these actions, above 
 mentioned, did Gen. Early carry nine thouscmd men 
 {infantry) into the fight. ''^ 
 
 " One who served on Early's staff," writing in the 
 
272 EAPLT'S BATTLES, 
 
 New York JVews, of Februaiy 10, 1866, fully corrobo- 
 rates this statement. 
 
 A writer in the Richmond Times says : " Of Gen. 
 Early's actual force on the 19th of September, 1864, 
 the day of the battle of Winchester, liis first defeat, 
 we can give statistics nearly official, procured from an 
 officer of rank, who held a high command during the 
 campaign, and who had eveiy opportunity of know- 
 ing.^ Early's inf antiy consisted of — total infantry, 
 eight thousand three hundred ; total cavalry, tkree 
 thousand eight hundi'ed ; total artillery, fifty-two guns 
 — about one thousand artillerists." 
 
 We omit the detailed statement of the strength of 
 divisions, brigades, and batteries. The number of the 
 cavalry is overestimated. Gen. Early states it at " less 
 than three thousand." 
 
 The fact is, Early's force of all arms was about 
 twelve thousand. It was thus regarded as truly as- 
 tounding when Gen. Sheridan wrote that he had cap- 
 tured thiiteen thousand men in his campaign, and that 
 Early's casualties in the last months of 1864 could be 
 " safely estimated at twenty-six thousand eight hun- 
 dred and eighty-one men." 
 
 Perhaps the satirical comments of the Kichmond 
 Times may contain the truth. " There must be some 
 error," says the Times ^ " in Gen. Sheridan's statement 
 of the number of prisoners cajptured. Thirteen thou- 
 sand will hardly include the number actually taken by 
 him. His numerous and powerful cavalry swept the 
 country, and captured nearly everything that wore 
 
 * Probably, Gen. Gordon is here alluded to. 
 
EARLY' S BATTLES. 273 
 
 breeches from twelve to sixty. The number actually 
 captured during the period must be much greater. 
 Probably prisoners under five years old were not regis- 
 tered at head-quarters, and few of the women retained 
 in captivity." 
 
 To return to the narrative of events. On the 19th 
 of September Sheridan crossed the Opequon, and threw 
 his thirty thousand infantry against Early's eight thou- 
 sand five hundred. The battle was a desperate one, 
 and after hours of stubborn fighting, Sheridan had not 
 driven the Southerners a foot. 
 
 This statement, greeted with incredulity by some 
 readers, is nevertheless the truth. The resistance 
 made by Early's infantry, and his heroically served 
 artillery, was so obstinate, that, after repeated and 
 vigorous assaults. Gen. Sheridan's infantry had failed 
 completely in forcing back the thin line opposed to 
 them. Whether they would have succeeded ultimately 
 with their infantry alone, it is hard to say. Thirty 
 thousand men ought ahvays to defeat eight or nine 
 thousand — three or four ought to drive one. But did 
 they, in the late war ? Answer, Sharpsburg, Chancel- 
 lorsville, Spottsylvania ! 
 
 Early held his ground with stubborn courage until 
 four in the afternoon. Then the fatal moment came. 
 
 Sheridan massed two crack divisions of cavalry, un- 
 der Generals Merritt and Averill, on his right ; drew up 
 his powerful infantry, with a third division of cavalry 
 covering his left ; and at four o'clock, made a general 
 attack. The day was to be decided by the cavalry. 
 From this arm of Sheridan now came the coup de 
 grace. 
 
274 EABLT'S BATTLES. 
 
 Wliile the infantry lines closed in, in obstinate 
 combat, and Early's entire resources were needed to 
 repulse the assault on his front, the two di\dsions of 
 Federal cavalry, on Sheridan's right, moved to the 
 Martinsburg road, enveloped the Confederate left, 
 drove before them the badly equipped cavalry there, 
 and at the moment when the hard pressed infantry of 
 Early were breasting the hurricane in front, which 
 threatened to sweep them away, the great force of 
 Federal horse thundered down, with drawn sabres and 
 loud cheers, upon their left flank and rear. 
 
 That decided the fate of the day. The battle was 
 lost. The infantry gave back, and nothing but the 
 magnificent fighting of the artillery under those brave 
 spirits, Braxton and Carter, saved the army from rout. 
 The guns were fought to the muzzles. In the midst 
 of a storm of shot, shell, canister, and bullets, the can- 
 noneers stood to their pieces, and the infantry were 
 thus enabled to retire in something like order. 
 
 Honour to whom honour is due. At the battle of 
 the Opequon, the infantry made a stubborn, splendid 
 fight ; but more stubborn, and more splendid, was the 
 fight of the artillery ! 
 
 Such was this action. The news flashed northward, 
 and hallelujahs saluted the soap-bubble as it rose, 
 decked out with splendid colours, in the sunshine of 
 victory. But soap-bubbles are fleeting. The day 
 comes when they are pricked and vanish. This one 
 was pricked by Early's pen, fi'om his place of exile, 
 and has disappeared. 
 
 Forty thousand men had driven about twelve thou- 
 sand from the field. There was the whole affair. 
 
EABLT'S BATTLES. 275 
 
 But a victory is always a victory. The world at large 
 looks to " results." They laugh when the '' details " 
 are discussed. 
 
 " It is well for you who are conquered," says the 
 world, " to grumble about everything ; but whipped 
 
 you are." 
 
 So be it. Might is right — is it not ? Is there any 
 other theory of government existing to-day on Korth 
 American soil ? 
 
 So that " Yalley of Humiliation," as the Korth had 
 long called the Shenandoah region, was suddenly 
 changed into a parterre of roses and laurels. Early 
 was retreating — Sheridan was pursuing. 
 
 Three days after the Opequon fight, the second act 
 of the bustling drama was played at Fisher's Hill, 
 above Strasburg. 
 
 It would be a misuse of terms to call this a battle. 
 It was the attack of a victorious enemy upon a hand- 
 ful, retreating after defeat. 
 
 A few words will convey an accurate idea of the 
 
 affair. 
 
 Pushing rapidly on, after the battle of the Opequon, 
 Sheridan came up Avith Early on the morning of Sep- 
 tember 22, at Fisher's Hill, near Strasburg. This is a 
 lofty hill, stretching across the valley, from the left 
 bank of the Shenandoah to the North Mountain, and 
 affords an excellent position for a force sufficient to 
 reach fi'om mountain to mountain. 
 
 Unfortunately, Early had only about four thousand 
 bayonets — a number painfully unequal to the emer- 
 gency. The heavy blow on the Opequon had greatly 
 disorganized him ; hundreds of his troops were scat- 
 
276 EARLY' 8 BATTLES. 
 
 tered ; when he drew up his men on Fisher's Hill, the 
 best informed officers declare that his force was 
 scarcely four thousand bayonets. As to his cavalry, a 
 large portion was detached to defend the Luray Val- 
 ley ; it is doubtful if the Southern force reached five 
 thousand effective. 
 
 Gen. Sheridan's must have touched upon thirty thou- 
 sand, allowing him ten thousand lost at the Opequon. 
 The attack followed. 
 
 We have said that the affair could scarcely be called 
 a battle. Early had no sort of intention of fighting 
 there. lie had decided to retreat again as soon as 
 night came, for a powerful Federal force was pushing 
 up the Luray Valley to cut off his retreat. The men 
 knew that ; and it was tliis which made tlie affair so 
 disastrous. 
 
 Sheridan repeated his movement of the 19th. Turn- 
 ing Early's left, by the Brock Road, with cavalry, he 
 followed up the blow with a powerful infantry force ; 
 swept doAvn the works, and assaulting in front, while 
 the Confederates were thus looking to their flank, car- 
 ried the whole position. Eq.rly was driven in disorder 
 from the ground, and retreated up the valley, pm*sued 
 by his opponent. 
 
 Sheridan pushed on to Staunton, forcing Early to 
 take refuge in the Blue Ridge, with the remnant of 
 his army ; and then commenced that work of wanton 
 destruction which has made his name more bitterly 
 execrated by the inhabitants than even the name of 
 Hunter. 
 
 Before the torches in the hands of liis troops, houses, 
 barns, mills, farming implements, all disappeared in 
 
EABLT'S BATTLES. 277 
 
 flame. Women and children ^vere seen flying by the 
 light of burning dwellings ; corn, wheat, and forage — 
 the only supplies left the inhabitants — were seized or 
 destroyed ; tlie very ploughs and rakes were broken 
 up, and rendered useless. From the women, gray- 
 beards, and children, threatened with starvation, went 
 up a cry to God for vengeance on the author of this 
 enormity. 
 
 " I have destroyed," said Gen. Sheridan, in his official 
 report, " two thousand bams filled with wheat and hay, 
 a7id farming hnj^lemeiits ; over seventy mills filled 
 with flour and wheat; have driven in fi'ont of the 
 army over four thousand head of stock; and have 
 killed and issued to the troops not less than three thou- 
 sand sheep. This destruction embraces the Luray Yal- 
 ley, and the Little Fort Yalley, as well as the main 
 valley." 
 
 By whose orders was that done ? Answer, history ! 
 
 Gen. Sheridan, having thus laid waste the whole val- 
 ley, fell back to Strasburg, and here, for the moment, 
 the campaign ended. 
 
 It was not, however, to terminate for the year. There 
 was this enormous difference between the year 1864: 
 and those which had preceded, it, that whereas, in the 
 former years, McClellan, Pope, Burnside, and Hooker 
 had fought pitched battles and then rested, in this year, 
 18G4:, Grant never rested, never went into camp, never 
 ceased hammering. The old plan had been tried and 
 had failed. Pitched battles, once or twice a year, ac- 
 comphshed nothmg. The Confederate armies must be 
 fought every day ; kept eternally under ai-ms ; deprived 
 of their very sleep at night. 
 
278 EAELT'S BATTLES. 
 
 See how the great drama at Petersburg was played. 
 Ko rest day or night. Artillery roaring, musketry 
 rattling, mortar-shell bursting. At midnight, at two 
 or three in the morning, when sleet was ratthng, snow 
 falling, amid rain, storm, darkness, as in the sunshine, 
 was heard the crash of sharp-shooters and the thunders 
 of gims. " Attention ! " was the programme, and it was 
 the right one. Grant's highest praise as a soldier is 
 that he saw this. 
 
 So in the vallev as in the low-land, fio^htino:, fisrhtino; 
 lighting, was to l^e the order of the day. Early ac- 
 cepted the programme, and it was the Confederate com- 
 mander who now, after reorganizing his army, advanced 
 to attack his adversary. 
 
 On the 19th of October, Early was at Cedar Creek, 
 near Strasburg, and had delivered a blow under which 
 the army of Sheridan staggered. ^ 
 
 The opponents were separated by the waters of Cedar 
 Creek, and the enemy seem to have regarded themselves 
 as secure fi'om attack ; but this veiy security afforded 
 the opportunity of striking them to advantage. 
 
 Gen. Gordon, with two or three officers, ascended the 
 lofty summit of the Massinutton mountain, which here 
 dominates the valley, commanding a view of the whole 
 country for twenty miles around, and from this eagle's 
 eyrie, the party saw beneath them the camps of the 
 enemy ; the position of Sheridan's army ; the road by 
 which it could be approached — the whole ^'situation." 
 The right of the Federal force was strongly guarded, 
 for there an attack from Early was possible. The left 
 was resting in secm-ity, for Ihe steep side of the moun- 
 tain here seemed to render all approach impossible. 
 
EABLY'S BATTLES. 279 
 
 At the foot of this abrupt precipice, however, ran a 
 narrow mountain road, winding between the slanting 
 rock and the river ; by this road, Gordon saw that a 
 column could be thrown ao^ainst the Federal left. 
 
 He descended and reported to Gen. Early; the 
 movement was resolved upon; and under cover of 
 darkness the men were moved silently by the narrow 
 road, to the attack, which took place at dawn. 
 
 It was sudden, fierce, and completely successful. 
 
 Before the rush of the Confederates, the whole left 
 wing of the Federal army fled in wild confusion ; the 
 men dashed in among the tents ; a few volleys only 
 saluted them ; the day seemed won in an instant. 
 
 Then Early, with the rest of his troops, crossed Cedar 
 Creek in the enemy's front ; pushed on to the field ; 
 and before the force thus concentrated, and attacking 
 in front and flank, the whole army of Sheridan gave 
 way. 
 
 Victory was in Early's grasp. The Federal lines 
 were driven. Their artillery was all captured, or had 
 rushed to the rear in hopeless, paralyzed disorder. The 
 infantry was stampeded — the cavalry was galloping 
 from the field. 
 
 Such was the spectacle which greeted the eyes of the 
 Confederates, at Cedar Creek, on the morning of Octo- 
 ber 19, 1864. 
 
 Unfortunately, another spectacle also saluted them 
 — the rich spoils of the camp — and these unwonted 
 luxuries of every description they paused to seize upon. 
 Instead of pursuing the enemy, falling back now in 
 utter confusion, the men were eating, drinking, and 
 
280 EARLY'S BATTLES. 
 
 busy, everywhere, in ransacking the tents, where the 
 flying Federals had left everything." 
 
 That conduct was unsoldierly, you may say, reader. 
 Let us not attempt to defend it, but let us also note one 
 thing — that this army needed blankets, shoes, clothes, 
 every species of " quartermasters' stores." It is easy to 
 recline on a velvet chair, with the feet upon the fender, 
 in the midst of every comfort, and to say, " disgrace- 
 ful ! incredible ! " But, believe me, it it hard to shiver 
 at night for want of a blanket — to leave, mth naked 
 feet, bloody marks upon a turnpike — to be cold, hun- 
 gry, in rags — and not clutch at shoes, blankets and food. 
 Those men were brave — none were braver ; but hu- 
 man nature is human nature, after all. 
 
 Then came the punishment. The delay caused by 
 this disorder among the men, gave the enemy time to 
 reform their lines and come into position. This they 
 speedily did, under the dii'ection of Gen. Wright, com- 
 manding the Sixth Corps ; for Sheridan was at AYin- 
 chester. Before Early could press forward, the Fed- 
 eral forces were not only ready to resist liis further ad- 
 vance, but were prepared to attack him in their turn. 
 
 That attack quickly came. It is said to have been 
 the result of the presence of Gen. Sheridan, who came 
 at full gallop from Winchester, " on a steed shod with 
 fire," — and with hurrahs, oaths, and the elan of his 
 bearing, brought the troops up to the mark. There 
 seems, however, to be some ambiguity upon this point, 
 
 * It is proper to say here, however, that many oflBcers of high char- 
 acter, persistently declare that the troops were ordered to halt, by 
 Gen. Early. The writer was not present, and adopts the account 
 generally accepted. 
 
 24* 
 
EABLY'8 BATTLES. 281 
 
 if we go behind the bulletins sent to "Washington, and 
 thence to the newspapers. 
 
 " The dramatic incidents attending the arrival of 
 Sheridan," says a Northern writer, Mr. Swinton, a 
 great admirer of Sheridan, "have perhaps cansed Gen. 
 Wright to receive less credit than he really deserves. 
 The disaster was over by the time Sheridan arrived. 
 A compact line of battle was formed, and Wright was 
 on the point of opening the offensive." 
 
 Between Generals Wright and Sheridan we do not 
 undertake to decide. The question is one of little 
 interest. What followed w^as the defeat of Early in the 
 moment of victory. 
 
 In the midst of their great triumph, when they 
 looked upon the Federal army as completely disorgan- 
 ized, the Confederates suddenly saw that army ad- 
 vance upon them in serried ranks. Artillery thun- 
 dered, musketry crashed; heavy masses of cavalry, 
 with drawn sabres, rushed forward on the flanks, and 
 before this determined attack the disorganized infantry 
 of Early gave back. 
 
 Then was presented a spectacle which is said to have 
 been ludicrous, incredible, and without a parallel. 
 The men did not run. There was little of what is 
 called disorder, — of hurry, confusion or demoralization. 
 The men merely looked at the enemy, seemed to come 
 to the conclusion that they would not fight any more 
 that day and simply lounged away from the field. No 
 other word describes it. At a slow wallv, and care- 
 less, apparently, of shot and shell, the troops abandoned 
 their victory, and recrossed Cedar Creek. 
 
 Early had lost, in an hour, the whole fruits of his 
 
282 EARLY'S BATTLES, 
 
 victory. The day whose dawn had seen him pushing 
 forward npon the track of a routed enemy, saw him 
 retreating, before it closed, with that enemy pushing 
 him. 
 
 There were strange scenes in the late war — there 
 were none stranger than that at Cedar Creek. In one 
 day the Y alley was won and lost. 
 
 Thereafter there was to be no more serious fighting. 
 Autumn waned away; the bright October woods as- 
 sumed the russet-brown of November; winter came, 
 and the campaign of the Yalley was over. 
 
 Lee's great diversion to relieve his lines at Peters- 
 burg from the pressure on them, by threatening 
 "Washington, had succeeded and it had not succeeded. 
 He was relieved in some measure, for an army of 
 thirty or forty thousand men was kept by the enemy 
 in the Yalley ; but the relief only lengthened out the 
 long agony which now approached its end. 
 
 The Confederacy was tottering. Xo reinforcements 
 were sent forward by the country to supply the losses 
 which Grant's eternal hammering, day and night, in- 
 flicted upon Lee. All hearts desponded ; all brows 
 were overshadowed. If there existed, as there seemed 
 to exist, a superstitious confidence in Lee and his poor, 
 gaunt skeleton of an awny, that was a con^dction un- 
 supported by reason — to expect, much longer, any thiug 
 fi'om that handful, was hoping against hope. 
 
 So dawned the dark year 1865, and those who were 
 behind the scenes knew that the end was near. Sher- 
 man had crossed Georgia, and was hastening north- 
 ward, through the Carolinas, to form a junction with 
 Grant, or cut off Lee's retreat. Johnston was falling 
 
EARLY'S BATTLES. 283 
 
 back before him. In the first days of spring, it was 
 plain that the Federal poniard was at the Confederate 
 throat. 
 
 Then in February of this last year of the struggle, 
 Sheridan again grappled with Early — if the fall of a 
 bludgeon upon an egg-shell can be so described. The 
 force, small as it was, with which Early had operated, 
 was imjDeratiYely needed in the thin lines around 
 Petersburg, and had been called thither. In the 'Ysl- 
 ley now, around Staunton, was left only a small body 
 of about one thousand infantry, — without calvary or 
 artillery, — to merely keep up the show of resistance. 
 
 In February, this handful was attacked by ten thou- 
 sand cavalry under Gen. Sheridan, at "Waynesboro. 
 Dispirited, hopeless, oppressed by the public gloom, 
 half -naked, one-fourth fed, and taken by surprise, this 
 little force broke in disorder before the charge of 
 Sheridan's excellent cavalry, scattered into the moun- 
 tains, and disappeared fi'om all eyes. Early himself 
 narrowly escaped capture. Sheridan pushed beyond 
 the Eidge — the game in the Yalley was played. 
 
 Then, almost unresisted, Sheridan crossed the Low- 
 land, joined Grant with his horsemen, who had ran- 
 sacked the whole country and seized on the best ani- 
 mals everywhere — and it was on the backs of Virgi- 
 nia horses that his men pursued Lee in his retreat. 
 
 In the last sketch of this series we shall finish the 
 picture which we have attempted to make of the great 
 struggle between Grant and Lee. 
 
 We have seen the Confederate Commander breastinoj 
 everywhere, throughout the stormy year 1864, the huge 
 
284 EARLY'S BATTLES. 
 
 blows of his adversary — have sfeen with what heroic 
 obstinacy the little Army of Northern Virginia sus- 
 tained the impact of the gigantic hammer, striking at 
 them day and night. They stood erect, and met its 
 hea\'y blows still, but all saw that the end was near. 
 
 We have chronicled many victories. We now ap- 
 proach the moment of decisive defeat — almost of an- 
 nihilation. But that did not fright the old soldiers of 
 Lee. They stood by their flag; surrendered only 
 when their great commander gave the order ; and, to- 
 day, that thought takes away the " bitterness of death," 
 — disfranchisement, and the bayonet. 
 
xn. 
 
 lee's eeteeat akd sueeendee. 
 
 In the month of March, 1S65, Lee — that is to say, 
 the Southern Confederacy — was at bay, circled by 
 enemies. 
 
 The gigantic drama which for nearly four years had 
 unfolded its bloody scenes on the soil of Virginia, ap- 
 proached the catastrophe. Four acts had been played 
 by such actors as the earth has rarely seen ; those acts 
 had been full of hurrying events, fierce passions, terri- 
 ble shocks ; the world, that grand audience, had 
 looked on with absorbing emotion ; and now, at last, 
 the curtain was to fall, the actors were to disappear, 
 the lights were to be extinguished, and the audience 
 were to draw a lons^ breath of relief. 
 
 There was cause for that emotion. In April, 1865, 
 one of the most illustrious banners of all history was 
 furled ; and at the foot of a record blazing all over 
 with glory, was written the sombre word, "Surren- 
 der." 
 
 Of this great Act Y., only a sketch is here at- 
 tempted. But that sketch will be accurate. The 
 writer did not gain his information of the events de- 
 scribed from books, but saw them. They passed be- 
 
 (285) 
 
286 LEE'S RETREAT AND SURRENDER 
 
 fore his eyes, and burnt themselves forever into his 
 memory. 
 
 In February, 1865, the roads were drying, and Gen. 
 Grant's heart must have thrilled at the thought, " At 
 last the end is near." 
 
 There was no doubt of that fact. The South was 
 tired of the war ; the Executive was unpopular ; the 
 heads of departments were worse ; the Confederate 
 money was mere paper; there was a quarter of a 
 pound of decayed meat for the army ; and that army 
 
 — the sole bulwark of the cause — numbered less than 
 forty thousand men, while Grant's numbered about 
 one hundred and fifty thousand. 
 
 In^ow, one hundred and fifty thousand men, against 
 forty thousand — a large estimate of the Confederate 
 " effective " — is an ugly thing in open field. It is 
 even worse when the forty thousand have forty or 
 fifty miles of earthworks to guard — as at Petersburg. 
 The day when Grant anywhere broke through that 
 thin and tremulous obstacle, Lee was lost. 
 
 The "country" — that dull critic of military things 
 
 — had, however, a different opinion. They scouted the 
 idea. Lee was a Titan of so great bulk that nothing 
 could overwhelm him. The Army of IS^orthern Yir- 
 ginia was unconquerable. Everything was going well. 
 Grant could do nothing. He might stretch his lines 
 from the Jerusalem Plank Poad to the Weldon Pail- 
 road — from the Weldon Pailroad to the Squirrel 
 Level Poad — from the Squirrel Level Poad to Hatch- 
 er's Pun — from Hatcher's Pun to the Quaker Poad 
 
 — from the Quaker Poad to the Boydton and White 
 Oak Poads — to Five Forks — to the Southside Pail- 
 
LEE'8 BETREAT AND SURRENDER, 287 
 
 road — to the craclv of doom. It was nothing. "Was 
 not Lee there with his great and invincible army — of 
 forty thousand men ? 
 
 Gen. Lee took a different view of things. Tliere 
 never beat in human breast a braver soul — a truer 
 heart of oak — than in the great Yirginian's. But to 
 that trained military brain, one thino^ was obvious — 
 that when Gen. Grant received his expected rein- 
 forcements from Sherman, the lines around Petersburg 
 would be torn asunder, and his army captured or de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 " At this time," says Gen. Grant, " the greatest 
 source of uneasiness to me was the fear that the 
 enemy would leave his strong lines around Petersburg 
 and Richmond before he was driven from them by 
 battle, or I was prepared to make an effectual pur- 
 suit." 
 
 Lee and his officers understood perfectly the design 
 of their great adversary. The Generals of the South- 
 ern army looked at the. situation with grim horror, and 
 jested about it. 
 
 '^ If Grant once breaks through our lines," said one 
 of them, " we might as well go back to Father Abra- 
 ham, and say, ' Father, we have sinned !' " 
 
 Such was tte situation in the last days of February, 
 1865, at Petersburg ; Lee's army of about thirty-nine 
 thousand men, gaunt and starving, in the trenches ; no 
 reinforcements arri^'ing ; Grant fighting day and 
 night, while awaiting his great accessions of strength 
 from Sherman ; the Southern force dwindling, the 
 Northern force growing larger ; the Confederacy pros- 
 trate, silent, laboring under a sort of stupor — the 
 
288 LEE'S RETREAT AND SURRENDER 
 
 ITortli jojouSj laughing, preparing to shout " Ilosau- 
 nah ! " 
 
 It was plain to all who saw clearly, that unless Lee 
 extricated his army from that man-trap, he was lost. 
 And he made the attempt. 
 
 The fact is not in print, but it is a fact that, before 
 the end of February, Gen. Lee gave ordei's for the 
 evacuation of his lines around Petersburg, and, conse- 
 quently, of Yirginia. At the word, his heavy stores 
 began to move ; his artillery and ammunition were 
 sent to Amelia Court House, on the straight line of 
 retreat to ISTorth Carolina — and then, one morning, 
 Gen. Lee went up to Kichmond. 
 
 When he returned to the army, the movement was 
 arrested. From that moment, the Confederacy was 
 dead. 
 
 The great soldier, commanding its greatest army, 
 must have shuddered then at the prospect before him. 
 That he did not lose heart, only proves that his was 
 truly an obstinate soul — a fibre which no weight of 
 care, no pressure of discouragement could shake. 
 
 Honour is due to the stubborn persistence of Grant, 
 but greater honour to the unshrinking nerve of Lee. 
 
 The problem was now reduced to a frightful sim- 
 plicity. Could Gen. Grant attain the Southside Rail- 
 road, on Lee's right ? H so, Lee was lost. Figure it 
 out as they might at Richmond ; talk as they might 
 about the jjossibility of holding Yirginia ; the bad pol- 
 icy of abandoning it — with Grant at Five Forks, the 
 game was ended. 
 
 Everything advanced now. The winds of March 
 dried the roads — Grant's gigantic war engine began to 
 
LEE'S RETREAT AND SURRENDER 289 
 
 move. That commander was still, however, haunted 
 by his old fear. 
 
 While the outside world was blmidering on, as to the 
 situation, the two great chess-players were bending over 
 the board ; and it was the brow of the ISTorthern soldier 
 that was the most deeply corrugated. 
 
 " I had spent days of anxiety," writes Gen. Grant, 
 " lest each morning should bring the report that the 
 enemy had retreated the night before." 
 
 And that anxiety was natural. Grant was a good 
 . soldier ; knew that Lee ought to retreat ; and Lee, too, 
 knew that he ought to. Why did he not ? 
 
 Answer, "Department of Rebel Archives," in the 
 city of Washington. 
 
 A month had passed since that attempt to evacuate 
 Petersburg, and Gen. Lee was still there. Those who 
 saw him then will remember that his expression and 
 whole bearing were of supreme repose. Never had 
 his smile been sweeter, his eye more limpid and mi- 
 clouded. 
 
 The March winds blew, the roads grew fii-m, the 
 moment had come, and Gen. Grant fixed upon the last 
 day of the month for a great assault upon Lee's right, 
 with the view of seizing the Southside Eailroad. 
 
 One would have said that his adversary saw the 
 shadow of the gigantic arm raised to strike. Before 
 the hammer fell, the world was to witness the last 
 great offensive movement of Lee — the final lunge of 
 the keen rapier which had so often drunk blood. 
 
 To relieve his right from the enormous pressure there 
 — to open his line of retreat for a junction with John- 
 ston, and to end at one blow the elaborate programme 
 
290 LEE'S RETREAT Am) SURRENDER. 
 
 of his opponent — Lee, on March 25th, had recourse to 
 a project -of unsurpassmg boldness. This was to attack 
 his adversary's centre, at Hare's Hill, near Petersburg, 
 cut the Federal line, root his whole army then between 
 the Federal wings, and either force Grant to retire his 
 whole left wing, or march upon and destroy it. 
 
 There was so much genius and audacity in this con- 
 ception, that it ought to have succeeded. It did nearly 
 succeed. Here are the facts briefly narrated : 
 
 Fort Steadman, the point selected for assault, was a 
 powerful Federal work opposite Petersburg, defended 
 in front by abattis, and every species of obstacle, and 
 flanked by other forts commanding it. 
 
 The Federal and Confederate lines were at this point 
 less than two hundred yards distant from each other, 
 and each was eternally on the watch. 
 
 Surprise seemed impossible, — attack hopeless. In 
 the night, toward morning of March 25thj Lee surprised 
 and attacked. 
 
 The storming column was three or four thousand 
 men, under Gordon — that brave of braves — the man 
 who never failed to do the utmost that could be done, 
 
 — who electrified the soldiers that fought under him, 
 and whose name will electrify history I Gordon went 
 through the abattis in the dark March morning, over 
 the Federal breastworks, driving before him, or captur- 
 ing the Federal infantry there — seized Fort Steadman 
 
 — was at dawn rooted immovably in the centre of 
 Grant's line. 
 
 The last great blow of the Army of Northern Virginia 
 had been struck. Gordon's sword-point was at the 
 
LEBPS RETREAT ANT) SURREm)ER. 291 
 
 throat of Grant — an honr afterwards his whole com- 
 mand was dead, or captm*ed, or retreating. 
 
 A few words will explain that. He was not sup- 
 ported by the troops which Gen. Lee had ordered to 
 follow him — the Federal forts, right and left, opened 
 a terrible fire npon him ; he was ringed round with 
 artillery, crushed by heavy masses of infantry — scarce 
 was there time for the remnant of his little force to 
 save themselves. 
 
 The great blow had completely failed — nearly two 
 thousand men were dead or prisoners — the last hope 
 of successful retreat to Korth Carolina was lost. 
 
 What was foreseen by Lee speedily followed. Grant 
 threw his whole force, now amounting to one hundred 
 and sixty thousand men, against Lee's entire front — 
 making his hea^dest attack on the Confederate right. 
 
 The trumpets had thus sounded ; the knights, with 
 lance in rest, had rushed together, and the soil trem- 
 bled. The days thundered, and the nights were like 
 the days. From the White Oak Road, west of Peters- 
 burg, to the Williamsburg E-oad, east of Richmond, 
 cannon glared and roared, musketry rattled, mortar 
 shell rose, described their fiery curves, like flocks of 
 flame-birds, burst, and rained their iron fi-agments in 
 the trenches. The cannoneer, sighting his gun, fell 
 pierced by bullets entering the embrasure; the mus- 
 keteer, who sank to sleep in the trenches for an instant, 
 was torn asunder by the mortar shells, and never woke. 
 At midnight, gaunt and dusky flgures, moving to and 
 fro in the baleful light, plied their deadly work, never 
 resting, scarce ever eating — not hoping, but fighting 
 still. 
 
292 LEE'S RETREAT AND SURRENDER 
 
 Those who remember those days do not dwell -^th 
 serene pleasm*e on the souvenir. A lurid glare seems 
 ever to hover over those scenes of nightmare, when two 
 armies were in the death-wrestle. 
 
 Let others chronicle the events of those days of de- 
 cisive struggle — the present writer has neither space 
 nor inclination. Bloodshed is repulsive ; an army of 
 supremely glorious history undergoing the ceremony 
 of annihilation is not a cheerful spectacle. 
 
 Lee fought to the end. The soul of the Confederate 
 commander seemed only to grow more resolute and 
 unconquerable, as he felt upon his breast the pressure, 
 ever heavier and more deadly, of the Federal anaconda, 
 wrapping its huge folds around him. 
 
 History nowhere exhibits a more obstinate combat- 
 iveness, a more inexorable will, a more trained and 
 daring courage than that of Lee in the fights around 
 Five Forks. 
 
 When his right was cut, repulsed, crushed there — 
 when Warren and Sheridan had gained a victory there, 
 resembling in every particular — in relative numbei"S 
 more especially — the victory of the latter over Early 
 at the Opequon — when the whole Confederate right 
 wing was completely torn to pieces, and the rest of the 
 little army driven back into Petersburg — then, when 
 all was lost, when every heart despaired, when every 
 brow was overshadowed, Lee was still as cool as on the 
 days of Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville ; in his eyes 
 was the same clear liglit ; his voice was as grave, meas- 
 ured, and courteous as before. 
 
 This soldier was grand and imposing on the days of 
 
LEE'S RETBEAT AJSfE SURRENDER. 293 
 
 his great battles. On the 2d of April, 1865, he was 
 subhme. 
 
 On that morning the long agony was decided. The 
 right wing of the Confederate army was captured or 
 dispersed. Grant had broken through in front of Pe- 
 tersburg. A. P. Hill was dead, and his little handful, 
 called a coi'ps in a spirit of bitter humor only, scattered. 
 The Federal army was pouring in one huge mass upon 
 the few thousands of men still in line of battle. 
 
 On the green slope of his headquarters, a mile or two 
 west of the city. Gen. Lee was looking through his 
 glasses at the Federal column pushing on to charge his 
 inner breastworks. On the left of Petersburg Gordon 
 was thundering, — fighting, with his mere skirmish 
 line, the trij^le Federal order of battle. Longstreet 
 was coming in with his skeleton regiments from the 
 James. The tragedy touched its last scenes. 
 
 When the bullets of the Federal infantry began to 
 whistle round him, and their shot and shell to tear up 
 the ground. Gen. Lee slowly mounted his iron gray, 
 and rode toward his line. 
 
 "This is a bad business. Colonel," he said, in his 
 calm, deep voice, wholly untouched by emotion. 
 
 As he spoke, a shell burst above him, and killed a 
 horse at his side ; but a sh'ght movement of the head 
 and a latent fire in the eye were the only proof that 
 the fact- had attracted his attention. Meanwhile his 
 ragged infantry — scattered, a mere skirmish line along 
 the low inner works — were laughing, greeted him as 
 he approached, with cheers, and exclaimed, with the 
 mirthful accent of schoolboys, — 
 
 " Let 'em come on ! We'll give 'em h — 1 ! " 
 
294 LEE'S BETREAT AND SURBENDER. 
 
 That expression was not classic, reader, and it may 
 offend your idea of decorum. But admit that it was 
 " game." The men of that brigade were laughing in 
 face of triple lines of Federal infantry, adTancing to 
 destroy them. 
 
 At night Gen. Lee put his ai-my in motion — crossed 
 the Appomattox — blew up his magazines, and dawn 
 saw fifteen thousand unshaken veterans steadily march- 
 ing up the north bank of the stream, commanded in 
 person by Lee. 
 
 They were out of the ti*enches, and in the budding 
 woods. They were moving, not massing — going to 
 fight, not to stand a siege in ditches full of mud and 
 ^ater — and Lee, on his gray horse, was leading them ! 
 The writer of this page sat his horse, and looked cu- 
 riously into the faces of the troops as they passed — 
 not a face was gloomy or careworn — not a man had 
 lost the heart of hope. 
 
 And they kept that heart to the last. They starved, 
 and grew faint, and fell by the wayside, on that terri- 
 ble retreat ; but as long as they could handle a musket, 
 the men fought. Ask their veteran opponents of the 
 old Army of the Potomac if they did not. 
 
 A freshet in the Appomattox swamping the bridges, 
 delayed the crossing of the aiTQy to the south side 
 again. It was not until Wednesday, the 5th of April, 
 that Lee had concentrated his little army at Amelia 
 Court House. 
 
 Glance now at the tragic situation of affairs. Lee 
 was retreating, or trying to retreat from Virginia. 
 Richmond was evacuated, like Petersburg. The officers 
 of government — President, secretaries, all — had hur- 
 
LEE'S RETREAT AKD SURRENDER. 295 
 
 ried southward. There was " no longer any Confed- 
 erate Capitol; or, if there was any, it was at Lee's 
 liead-qiiartei-s. What remained of the great edifice, 
 tottering to its fall, was held aloft upon the bayonets of 
 the Army of IS^orthern Virginia. 
 
 Wliat was that army ? Here is the statement of one 
 who had the best opportunity of knowing the exact 
 truth. Colonel Walter II. Taylor, A. A. G. of the 
 army, in MS. statement, says, — 
 
 ^'Strength at Petersburg, April 1, 1865: 
 
 - "Infantry (effective) 37,000 
 
 Around Eichmond (locals) 2,000 
 
 ¥ 
 
 39,000 
 
 " This I believe to be accurate. 
 
 " On the 2d of April, the troops were much scattered 
 — that is, separated from regular commands. Pickett 
 had been sent up to Five Forks. Anderson had been 
 sent up Southside Eoad with three brigades. Our 
 lines had been cut on Hill's fi'ont, and then Heth was 
 cut off; so that it was impossible to say what force 
 Gen. Lee took with him when Petersbursf was evac- 
 uated, but I think somewhere in the neighborhood of 
 fifteen thousand infantry. He was afterwards joined 
 by Heth and Anderson. At the time of the surrender, 
 we had in line of battle about eight thousand muskets. 
 We surrendered, officers and men, a little over twenty- 
 six thousand, including all departments and anns of 
 
 service." 
 
 Such was the force — some twenty thousand " effect- 
 ive" troops — with which Lee faced the one hundi-ed 
 
296 LEE'S BETBEAT AND SUEBENDEB, 
 
 and fifty thousand men of Grant, hurrying forward to 
 Bui'ks\dlle Junction, on the Danville Eaili'oad, to cut 
 off and destroy him. 
 
 To this point had all things come on April 5th. And 
 now what was Lee's design ? What had been liis in- 
 tention in evacuating Petersburg ? Was he out-gener- 
 eraled, checkmated — out- thought as out-fought by 
 Grant ? 
 
 A few words will answer these questions. Lee never 
 had the least intention to surrender ; let that be stated 
 first. He foresaw the almost mortal blow at Peters- 
 burg ; the shadow of the approaching fate ran on be- 
 fore, and he prepared for the ordeal. The first great 
 question was that of rations. There was rarely at 
 Petersburg as much as thi'ee days' supply of bread and 
 meat for the army ; now, when it was going to make a 
 rapid retreat, that little supply would fail. Rations 
 must be sent fi'om the South to meet the army on its 
 Tnarch. The order was given. Amelia Court House 
 was the point to which the supplies were ordered. Lee 
 would march thither, provision his army from the 
 railroad trains sent up from Korth Carolina, destroy 
 his sm*plus baggage, mass his little handful of tried 
 Teterans, move toward Johnston, and cut his way 
 through any force in his path. 
 
 This was his plain and simple programme. To pro- 
 ^'ision his army at Amelia Court House, attack the 
 scattered Federal forces, not yet massed across his line 
 of retreat, burst through them, and, forming a junction 
 v>'ith Jonhston, retreat into the heart of the Gulf States. 
 The rest was left to the future. If the war could be 
 carried on, he would carry it on. If not, he would be 
 
LEE'S RETREAT AND SURRENDER. 297 
 
 able to make terms of peace, and surrender, en regle^ 
 at the head of his army. Better that than to be 
 tracked like a wild beast, torn at every step, and die — 
 panting bleeding, starving — circled by enemies. 
 
 Two foes reversed this entire programme — man 
 and the elements. The freshet in the Appomattox de- 
 layed his crossing until Tuesday, April 4th. Grant 
 was hurrying by the straight road to cut him off, but. 
 there was still time, when the last, the fatal, the irresist- 
 ible blow fell. Keaching Amelia Court House, with 
 an army, staggering and starving for want of food, 
 Lee looked around, and saw not a trace of flour, bacon 
 or com — nothing. The trains from the South, loaded 
 with rations, had duly arrived. At the Court. House, a 
 telegram from Hichmond said, " Bring on the trains." 
 They continued their way, and reached Richmond ; the 
 rations were thrown in the street ; the cars were loaded 
 with the rubbish of the department, humed South- 
 ward, and when the army of Northern Virginia reached 
 the Court House, star^dng, falling by the way, and 
 perishing from exhaustion, they found nothing. 
 
 That blow was terrible ; those who reversed Lee's 
 orders assumed a frightful responsibility. It is only 
 just to say that the trains only, when emptied, are said 
 to have been referred to in the telegram, and no one 
 acquainted with the brave and resolute Executive, 
 Jefferson Davis, will believe him capable of that terri- 
 ble fault. Let history decide, and place the blame 
 where blame is due — we narrate. The trains passed 
 through the Court House upon Sunday, April 2d ; their 
 contents were thrown out in the streets of Richmond ; 
 
298 LEE'S RETREAT AND SUERENDER 
 
 that night the same cars were hastening southward, 
 and when Lee arrived, there was nothing.* 
 
 Then despair must have knocked at the doors of that 
 stout heart. Those who saw Gen. Lee at this moment 
 will not soon forget his expression. The hope and 
 defiant courage of a soul which nothing could bend, 
 had not deserted him, but that instant was enough to 
 test the fibre of the strongest heart. 
 
 All his plans were thus overthrown. He could no 
 longer advance ; he must stop to collect provisions for 
 his men. He could no longer form line of battle and 
 fight ; he must cut up his army into foraging parties — 
 half going out into the country to collect bread and 
 meat for the other half. Starving men do not fight — 
 starving horses do not pull artillery. There is some- 
 thing which paralyzes courage, hope, skill, nerve, hero- 
 ism — it is famine. 
 
 From all these circumstances, thus narrated briefly, 
 resulted that terrible delay. On "Wednesday, April 
 5th — that is to say, three days after the evacuation of 
 Petersbm-g — Lee was still at Amelia Court House. 
 His veterans were scattered around him, in the fields ; 
 his trains halted — wagons, artillery, carriages, and cais- 
 sons — because the horses could no longer draw them. 
 Parties were penetrating everywhere to the houses, ap- 
 pealing to the inhabitants with, '* Bread, bread, the 
 army is staiwing ! " — and all this time Gen. Grant 
 was hastening forward over the line of the Southside 
 
 * We liave a detailed statement of tlie events above referred to 
 from an officer then in Richmond, who witnessed alL We would 
 present that statement were any end to be reached. It would be 
 useless. The facts are not denied. 
 
1 
 LEE'S RETREAT AJW SURRENDER, 299 
 
 Railroad to Burks^-ille Junction: concentratinof there 
 corps after corps of liis superbly equipped and provis- 
 ioned army, to meet the little handful of Lee, when 
 they attempted to continue their retreat. 
 
 One course only was left to Lee — to change his line 
 of retreat, and make for the Virginia mountains. If 
 he could attain Lynchburg, he was out of the enemy's 
 clutch. That sole hope remained to him, and placing 
 himself at the head of his veterans, he resolutely be- 
 gan his march toward Farmville. 
 
 From that moment commenced the horrors of a re- 
 treat which will remain forever famous in history — 
 famous for the baleful tragedy of the subject, but more 
 famous still for the heroic nerve of the Iktle army of 
 Southerners who marched on, fighting day and night, 
 and starved and sunk down, and died without a mur- 
 mur. 
 
 Who can paint it ? What man of the South has the - 
 heart to describe that retreat in detail, tracing step by 
 step the great tragedy to the fall of the curtain ? Xot 
 the present writer, who saw it all; starved with his 
 comrades ; heard the bay of the Federal war-dogs day 
 and night on the track ; and now, when two years have 
 passed, recalls with sombre emotions that bitter fright- 
 ful, hopeless struggle to emerge from the toils in 
 which numbers had enveloped the little fainting hand- 
 ful — fainting, but defiant and unconquered to the last. 
 
 Here are some memoranda only of the retreat. Lee 
 had just begun to move from Amelia Court House, 
 when news came that the Federal cavalry, pushing 
 ahead, had attacked and burned his ordnance trains at 
 Paynesville. Thus even his small numbers were to be 
 
300 LEE'S RETREAT AXD SURRENDER, 
 
 paralyzed — the army must be disarmed in advance. 
 Lee moved on steadilv, reached the ^dcinitv of Ilicrh 
 Bridge on the 6th, and here the Federal cavalry and 
 infantry burst into the trains ; tore to pieces their rear- 
 guard under Ewell and others ; captured, destroyed, or 
 dispersed the whole ; and pressed forward to annihi- 
 late the remainder of the army. 
 
 This was just at nightfall, and the woods glared ; 
 the sky was a great canopy of crimson ; artillery 
 roared ; muskets -cracked ; the Federal forces rushed 
 on to finish their work, when in their path they saw a 
 hedge of bayonets. Hanked by cannon, whose grim 
 mouths seemed to say, " Come on ! " In fact, Gen. 
 Lee had hastened with a handful of men to erect this 
 barrier between the disordered remnant of Ewell, 
 Anderson and Custis Lee — and it was a magnificent 
 spectacle, the reception of the old cavalier by the half- 
 starved, unarmed, and tumultuous crowd, who seemed 
 in a wild rage at having been thus driven by the 
 enemy. 
 
 With hands clenched and raised aloft; eyes fiery 
 and menacing; accents hoarse, defiant, full of un- 
 shrinking '* fight,*' the ragged inf antiy rose from the 
 ground upon which they had thrown themselves around 
 the cannon, exclaiming, — 
 
 " General Lee ! " 
 
 " It's old Uncle Robert." 
 
 "Wliere's the man who won't follow old Uncle 
 Eobert ? " 
 
 Fancy that scene, reader, if you can. These tatter- 
 demalions, burning with rage and defiance ; with 
 hands clenched, eyes like coals of fire, hoai'^e and vi- 
 
LEE'8 RETREAT AND SURRENDER 301 
 
 brating voices— faces gaunt, dirty, emaciated by hun- 
 ger, but showing, by the close, set teeth under the 
 rough-bearded lips, that the nerve of the bull-dog was 
 all there still — imagine this scene, lit up by the glare 
 of the burning wagons, by the horizon all flaming, 
 above which rose, red and threatening, the Federal sig- 
 nal rockets, and in the midst of all, on his iron gray, 
 the old cavalier, Lee, sitting calm and collected, with a 
 face as unmoved as on some peaceful parade. 
 
 Before that rock, bristling with bayonets, the Federal 
 wave went back. Kight fell, and with cannon thim- 
 dering upon the long drawn line of Federal horsemen, 
 ready'^to rush forward on his rear, Lee continued his 
 retreat, crossing the river at Farmville, and making for 
 
 Lynchburg. 
 
 Then commenced, on the 7th of April, 1865, the 
 most terrible scenes of the retreat. Men were fight- 
 ing, falling, and dying all around. The musket was 
 fired, then it fell from the nerveless hand. The men 
 charged, drove back the enemy, swarming upon them, 
 pursued with wild yells, triumphant cheers — then they 
 staggered and fell. All along the immense line^ of 
 trains the enemy attacked ; the " stragglers," as they 
 were called — that is, the men who could not carry 
 musket or cartridge-box— fought them with sticks and 
 rocks. The horses and mules were fainting from ex- 
 haustion, like the troops. Wagons mired, and the 
 teams could not move. Cannon sunk in mudholes, and 
 the horses fell and died beside them, up to the girth in 
 ooze. The teams had become skeleton animals, with 
 emaciated limbs, and eyes full of dumb despair. The 
 most cruel blows scarcely pushed them to a slow^ walk. 
 
302 LEE'S RETREAT AND SURRENDER 
 
 Com there was none, or if a little was discovered, the 
 starring troops clutched it, struggled for the eai*s, 
 crushed the grains between their teeth like horses, and 
 swallowed it half masticated. Meanwhile, to the 
 right, to the left, in rear, in front, the enemy thun- 
 dered ; and the muskets of the Confederates replied. 
 Lee was fighting still — meant to fight to the end. 
 
 Hope had not even then deserted that breast, cased 
 in " triple steel'" When, on the 8th, Gen. Pendleton 
 was deputed by the corps commanders of the army to 
 inform Gen. Lee that surrender, in their opinion, was 
 inevitable, Lee exclaimed, with flushed cheeks : 
 
 " Surrender ! I have too many good fighting men 
 for that." 
 
 On the morning of April 9th, as he drew near Appo- 
 mattox Court House, these fighting men were reduced 
 to less than eight thousand, and the enemy had struck 
 a last blow. Sheridan's cavalry, pushing, on had cap- 
 tured and destroyed a train of supplies sent down from 
 Lynchburg, and Grant's infantry had hurried up, and 
 massed in fi'ont. Then Lee's last hope was gone, and 
 nothing remained for him but to surrender the army. 
 
 Up to that moment he had resolutely refused to do 
 so, when Grant summoned him. On the 7th, and 
 again on the 8th, the Federal commander had written 
 him notes, urging the hopeless situation of his army ; 
 but as late as the evening of the 8th, the day before 
 the sm'render, Lee replied : 
 
 " To be frank, I do not think the emergency has 
 arisen to call for the sm-render of this anny." 
 
 A Federal writer sees in that reply "a kind of giim 
 humor ; " and in truth there was something grim, if 
 
LEE'S BETEEAT AI^D SUMRENDEB. 303 
 
 not liumorous, in such an answer on that Sth of April. 
 Gen. Grant was " up " — on Lee's front, rear, right, and 
 left — with about one hundred and thirty thousand 
 men. On all sides, the Confederates were enveloped ; 
 infantry, cavalry, and artillery riuged them round ; 
 through every opening they saw the swarming Fed- 
 eral horse, the glittering Federal bayonets ; from e^'ery 
 knoll grinned the muzzles of Federal cannon. 
 
 The prey was hunted down ; one hundred and thirty 
 thousand men had surrounded and had in their clutch 
 less than eight thousand armed infantry, and the com- 
 mander of the eight thousand, when summoned to sur- 
 render, replied that in his opinion the emergency for 
 that step had not arisen. 
 
 That was on the Sth. On the morning of the 9th, 
 as we have said, the tragedy had reached the last 
 scene. 
 
 As the little skirmish line of Gordon mounted the 
 Appomattox Court House hill, the advance force of the 
 Federal army was extending steadily across his front — 
 infantry, cavaby, and artillery barred the way. 
 
 Then a last attack was made, and the Federal lines 
 were driven nearly half a mile. Eaked by the artil- 
 lery of Col. Carter — that brave and resolute spirit — 
 their ranks were broken, and Gordon made his last 
 great charge. Before it the huge mass fell back, but 
 then the great wave returned. Artillery thundered, 
 musketry rattled — fainting, staggering, dying of star- 
 vation, the men fought on. 
 
 Then the last moment came. The time seemed to 
 have arrived when the Old Guard of Ihe Army of 
 Northern Yirginia, under Gordon and Longstreet, be- 
 
304 LEE'S RETREAT AND SURBENDER 
 
 beath tlie eye of Lee, would be called on to shed over 
 the last scene of the war, the glory of an heroic death. 
 Longstreet was marching slowly and steadily from the 
 rear to the front. Every veteran grasped his musket 
 and moved on with measured tramp, — when all at 
 once Gordon's poor little skirmish line was seen emerg- 
 ing from the woods, still fighting as they retreated ; 
 and on the left, beyond the forest, a great mass of dark 
 cavalry came steadily on, w^ith drawn sabre, to the work 
 of butchery. Then, at that last moment, something 
 like a magical calm, a mysterious silence, came. The 
 Btorm lulled all at once, as if at the bidding of some 
 enchanter's wand ; and on the heights of Appomattox 
 appeared a dark-blue column, waving in front of them 
 a white flag. 
 
 Lee had sm-rendered the army. The odds of one 
 hundred and thirty thousand against eight thousand 
 was too great, and the long and ten-ible wrestle ended. 
 
 When the old cavalier came back from his inter- 
 view with Grant, the men crowded around him with 
 pale faces, eyes full of fiery tears, and bosoms shaken 
 by fierce sobs. Does any reader regard this picture as 
 overdrawn ? Ask those who saw it ; demand of any 
 one present whether the firm hand of Lee was not 
 necessary to suppress the veritable rage of many, from 
 General to private soldier. But Lee was still the great 
 directing head of the army ; what he had done, all felt 
 was well done ; and the men crowded round him, 
 uttering hoarse exclamations. 
 
 " I have done what I thought was best for you," he 
 said ; " my heart is too full to speak, but I wish you all 
 health and happiness." 
 
LEE'S RETREAT AND SURRENDER, 305 
 
 The day passed, then the night— on the 10th the 
 army surrendered formally, stacked arms, abandoned 
 their columns, and dispersed to their homes. The 
 Federal commander had acted throughout all with the 
 generosity of a soldier, and the breeding of a gentle- 
 man. Xot a cheer was heard, not a band played in 
 the Federal army. When far-off a shout rose over the 
 woods, one of the Federal officers hastened to apologize 
 
 for it. ' - 
 
 " That is the rear-guard— those fellows did none of 
 
 the fighting," he said. 
 
 As to those who had fought— the veteran Army of 
 the Potomac, tried in battle, in victory, in defeat, in 
 all the hard life of the soldier— they did not cheer 
 when their old adversaries surrendered. They were 
 silent, and saluted when a ragged Confederate passed. 
 They felt what surrender must be to the men of that 
 army which they had fought for four years — and not 
 a cheer or a brass band was heard. 
 
 Why humiliate their old enemies? Why make 
 more bitter their misfortune ? 
 
 On the 10th of April, 1865, the old soldiers of the 
 Army of the Potomac stretched the hands of comrades 
 to the foe they had fought so long. To-day they are 
 ready to do as much, if the civilians would only let them. 
 There is a personage more ferocious and implacable 
 than the fiercest soldier— it is the man who has staid 
 at home and never smelt the odor of powder;— who, 
 while the rest fought, clapped his hands, crpng: 
 
 " Fight on, my brave boys ! You are covering your- 
 selves with glory, and we are watching you ! " 
 
 If the civilians had been at Appomattox, they would 
 
306 LEE'8 RETREAT AND SURRENDER, 
 
 have butchered or handcuffed the men of Lee — would 
 yon not, messieurs ? Tou would certainly have split 
 the air with every brass band of the army, and shouted 
 " Hosannah " at their humiliation. 
 
 "Well, see the difference between men who fight, and 
 men who do not. The old soldiers of the Army of the 
 Potomac kept quiet — when Lee appeared at Gen. 
 Grant's quarters, every head was uncovered. Victory 
 saluted defeat. 
 
 So ended the war. "With Lee's surrender, all other 
 armed resistance disappeared, and the great conflict 
 which for ' four years had desolated Virginia, ter- 
 minated suddenly as a tragedy terminates at the fall 
 of the curtain. 
 
 "We have followed rapidly the steps of that gigantic 
 struggle ; looked on its shifting scenes, its varying for- 
 tuned The aim of the wiiter of these pages has been 
 to draw a truthful outline of the mighty wrestle, and 
 to give to fi'iend and foe his just due. If he has been 
 unjust, it was not willingly. Xothing has been ex- 
 tenuated on the one side — on the other naught has 
 been set down in malice. Of the great American Ke- 
 volution, the world will doubtless always differ in their 
 views ; parties will hold opposing opinions, and dm'ing 
 the lifetime of the present generation those opinions 
 will doubtless be colored by the rancor of partisan 
 feeling. 
 
 "What men will not differ about, however — what all 
 will agree upon — is the reluctance with which the 
 great Commonwealth of Virginia entered upon the 
 struggle, and the constancy and courage which she 
 brought to the long, bitter, and terrible ordeal. Eight 
 
LEE'8 RETREAT AlfD SURRENDER 307 
 
 or wrong, she was brave — was she not? Ask her 
 desolated fields, hor vacant firesides, her broken hearts. 
 Prostrate, panting, bleeding at every pore, she was 
 faithful to the last, in defence of her principles ; and 
 rather than peld those principles, dear as her heart's 
 blood, she bared her breast for four years of destroy- 
 ing war, to the torch and the sword — the one laying 
 waste her beautiful fields, the other drinking the blood 
 of the flower of her youth. 
 
 In that sombre conflict she dared all, risked all, 
 suffered all — and to-day has lost all. 
 
 No ! Her stainless escutcheon is still left to her — 
 and her broken sword, which no taint of bad faith or 
 dishonor ever tarnished. 
 
 That escutcheon is to-day, as it always was, the spot- 
 less mirror of honor. In the past it was held aloft by 
 Washington, the Father of the Country; Jefferson, 
 the author of the Declaration ; Mason, who wrote the 
 Bill of Rights; Henry, the orator; Marshall, the 
 Judge; Taylor, the soldier; Madison, Monroe, Ran- 
 dolph, Clay — Presidents, statesmen, soldiers, orators 
 — working with the pen, the tongue, and the sword, a 
 work which speaks, and will ever speak for them. 
 
 These men were the supporters of the Yirginia 
 shield in the past. 
 
 Let the world decide whether Lee, and his great 
 associates, were unworthy to follow them in history. 
 
 THE END. 
 
NEW BOOKS 
 
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RARE BOOK 
 COLLECTION 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 AT 
 
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