History of the United States, v.4, by James Ford Rhodes, 1910 [c1892].

Chapter 20: Hooker in Command through Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

CHAPTER XX

The appointment of Hooker to the command of the Army of the Potomac was the President's own,1 although it was plainly prompted by the sentiment of the rank and file and of the country which had been formed by the general's record as an excellent and dashing corps commander. But Halleck was opposed to it,2 and a few of the higher officers of the Potomac army who had grown up with it felt that Lincoln had made an unwise choice. Curiously enough, Chase, who was the persistent friend of Hooker and had more than once urged that he be given the command in the place of McClellan, conceived an inkling of defects that might come to the surface if he held the supreme responsibility. When he lay in Washington recovering from his wound received at Antietam, Chase visited him, and the two conversed freely. The general had "less breadth of intellect" than the Secretary had expected. His surgeon and devoted friend gave to Chase this estimate of him: "Brave, energetic, full of life, skilful on the field, not comprehensive enough, perhaps, for the plan and conduct of a great campaign." 3

The appointment of Hooker, however, was a natural choice and deserves no criticism. The day after it was made the President wrote him a remarkable letter. "There are some things in regard to which," he said, "I am not quite satisfied with you. ... I think that during General Burnside's command of the army you have taken counsel of your ambition and thwarted him as much as you could, in which you did a
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1 O. R., vol. xxi. p. 1009.
2 C. W., 1865, vol. i. p. 175.
3 Warden, Life of Chase, p. 488.

great wrong to the country and to a meritorious and honorable brother officer. I have heard in such a way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the army and the government needed a dictator. . . . Only those generals who gain successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success and I will risk the dictatorship. ... I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army of criticising their commander and withholding confidence from him will now turn upon you. I shall assist you as far as I can to put it down. . . . Beware of rashness, but with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories."1

When Hooker took command, the Army of the Potomac had through continued defeats become "quite disheartened and almost sulky." 2 The number of absentees was enormous, and desertions were frequent. "So anxious were parents, wives, brothers, and sisters to relieve their kindred that they filled the express trains to the army with packages of citizen clothing to assist them in escaping from the service." 3 The general went to work energetically to correct these evils. His eminent talent for organization was felt throughout the army. "I have never known men to change from a condition of the lowest depression to that of a healthy fighting state in so short a time," wrote General Couch, one of his severest critics after Chancellorsville.4 A feeling of confidence grew up in the camp, while the labor of the general and its results were understood by the country. The people of the North took hope again, and their temper was buoyant as they looked forward to success. Early in April Hooker considered his army in condition to take the offensive. He was hastened in his determination by the knowledge that the term of service of 23,000 nine months'
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1 Lincoln, Complete Works, vol. ii. p. 306.
2 Couch, Century War Book, vol. iii. p. 154.
3 Hooker's testimony, C. W., 1865, vol. i. p. 112.
4 Century War Book, vol. iii. p. 119. IV. —17

and two years' men would soon expire.1 Encamped on the north bank of the Rappahannock River, he had 130,000 troops to oppose Lee's 60,000, who were at Fredericksburg: the Army of Northern Virginia had been weakened by the detachment of Longstreet and part of his corps. Hooker ordered his cavalry to advance towards Richmond for the purpose of severing the communications of the Confederates, but owing to heavy rains and high water in the river, these troops were delayed and were of no assistance to him in his operations. He was not able to wait for them to perform their part. April 27 three corps were put in motion; they crossed the Rappahannock thirty miles above Fredericksburg, then forded the Rapidan and marched to Chancellorsville on the south side of these rivers. To mask the main movement, General John Sedgwick with his corps forced the passage of the Rappahannock a short distance below Fredericksburg. Meanwhile the Second Corps under Couch had crossed the river at the United States ford and had reached Chancellorsville. There on the night of April 30 four corps were assembled with General Hooker in person in command. "It had been," writes Couch, "a brilliantly conceived and executed movement. . . . All of the army lying there that night were in exuberant spirits at the success of their general in getting 'on the other side' without fighting for a position. As I rode into Chancellorsville that night, the general hilarity pervading the camps was particularly noticeable; the soldiers, while chopping wood and lighting fires, were singing merry songs and indulging in peppery camp jokes." 2 Hooker was full of confidence which displayed itself in a boastful order. "The operations of the last three days," he declared, "have determined that our enemy must either ingloriously fly or come out from behind his defences and give us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him." 3 That "with
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1 O. R, vol. xxv. part ii. p. 243. But see Hooker's testimony, C. W., 1865, vol. i. p. 113.
2 Century War Book, vol. iii. p. 157.
3 O. R., vol. xxv. part i. p. 171.

MAP OF THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE
(From Atlas accompanying Official Records)

twice the weight of arm and as keen a blade,"1 and in spite of the splendid initiative, the Army of the Potomac met with disaster, is easily understood. Hooker was completely out-generalled by Lee. The Confederate commander had the perfect co-operation of Jackson, while the shortcomings of the Union general were aggravated by the carelessness of Howard, the commander of the Eleventh Corps.

Lee had early information of all of Hooker's movements, and by the afternoon of April 30 divined that his object was to turn the Confederate left. He ordered an advance to meet the Union troops who had taken position at Chancellorsville. When they pushed forward from the Wilderness, May 1, the enemy, instead of flying ingloriously, resisted and took the offensive. Hooker lost nerve and issued an order to his men to fall back. He had better left the movement to his corps and division commanders, who were at one in the opinion that they should make a vigorous attempt to hold the ground in the open country which they had gained. "My God," exclaimed Meade, "if we can't hold the top of a hill, we certainly cannot hold the bottom of it."2 Hooker's own explanation of his decision to retreat is unsatisfactory. To abandon the offensive and take up a line of defence, when he had two men to his opponents' one and knew it, was certainly a glaring fault of generalship. Couch heard the reason of it from his own lips, and "retired from his presence with the belief that my commanding general was a whipped man." 3 All but one of the military writers with whom I am acquainted agree that the retrograde movement was unnecessary, that it was the abandonment of the prime object of the campaign, and demoralizing to officers and soldiers.4 This note of
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1 T. A. Dodge, The Campaign of Chancellorsville, p. 5.
2 Walker, History of the Second Army Corps, p. 224.
3 Century War Book, vol. iii. p. 161; Hooker's testimony, C. W., 1865, vol. i. p. 125. For Hooker's explanation of the retrograde movement, see his despatches to Butterfield, May 1, O. R., vol. xxv. part ii. pp. 326,
4 The exception is Hamlin. See the Battle of Chancellorsville, p. 10.

despair must have run through rank and file: "It is no use. No matter who is given us, we can't whip Bobby Lee."

Hooker's position of defence was in the Wilderness, a tangled forest, an almost impenetrable thicket of dwarf oak and shrubbery.1 He deemed it a strong one, and so did Lee, who considered that a direct attack upon the Union army, which Hooker was hoping for, "would be attended with great difficulty and loss." 2 On the night of May 1 Lee and Stonewall Jackson might have been seen seated on two old cracker-boxes taking counsel together. The result of the deliberation evinced their supreme contempt for the generalship of their opponent, for, in the presence of superior numbers, they decided to divide their own forces. Early on the morning of May 2 Jackson, "the great flanker," with thirty thousand men started on a march which took him half-way around the Union army, his design being to attack its right, which was held by Howard and his Eleventh Corps. Hooker was up betimes, making an inspection of his lines, which resulted in a joint order to Howard and Slocum,3 written at 9.30 A. m., warning them to be prepared against a flank attack of the enemy.4 Jackson's column, marching along, was plainly seen by our men.5 The movement might be interpreted in two ways, — either that the Confederates were on the retreat southward, or that they were on their way to attack our right. Frequent reports of the progress of Jackson's column came to Hooker and to Howard, but they could see it in one light only, — that the enemy was retiring before the superior force which threatened him. At noon Sickles, who had brought
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1 Dabney, Life of Jackson, p. 668.
2 Hooker to Butterfield, May 1, Lee to Davis, May 2, Lee's report, O. R., vol. xxv. part i. pp. 797, 798; part ii. pp. 328, 765.
3 Commanding the 12th Corps.
4 O. R., vol. xxv. part ii. p. 360.
5 "This continuous column was observed for three hours."—Sickles, ibid., part i. p. 386. "In the course of the forenoon I was informed that large columns of the enemy could be seen from General Devens's headquarters ... at a distance of about two miles or over. I observed them plainly as they moved on." — Schurz, p. 652.

his corps across the river the previous day, received orders to harass the movement; he captured some prisoners whose tale indicated that Jackson was bent on fight, not on retreat. This certainly should have been strongly suspected from a study of the characters and past generalship of Jackson and Lee. Still Hooker would not be convinced. At 4.10 p. M. he sent word to Sedgwick: "We know that the enemy is fleeing, trying to save his trains. Two of Sickles's divisions are among them."1 It was equally impossible to make Howard see the truth. Carl Schurz, who commanded a division in his corps, urged upon him that the facts pointed unmistakably to an attack from the west upon their right and rear, and advised earnestly that they execute a change of front in order to be ready for it. But Howard would issue no such command, although Schurz on his own responsibility did change in accordance with his judgment the position of two of his regiments. The Eleventh Corps had been further weakened by the detachment on an order from headquarters of a brigade to the support of Sickles.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, after a march of fifteen miles, Jackson reached the place for which he had set out. He was west of the Union army, on the side of it directly opposite the position occupied by General Lee. Losing no time in forming his troops in battle array, he was ready soon after five and gave the order to advance.

The Eleventh Corps lay quietly in position, unsuspecting danger. The opinion at headquarters and of their own commander controlled the other officers, with a few exceptions, and pervaded also the soldiers. Some of the men were getting supper ready, others were eating or resting, some were playing cards. The warning came from the wild rush of deer and rabbits driven from their lairs by the quick march of the Confederates through the Wilderness. Twenty-six thousand 2
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1 O. R., vol. xxv. part ii. p. 363.
2 As I have computed it, the number of infantry. The artillery and cavalry must have made his force nearly if not quite 30,000.

of Jackson's men, "the best infantry in existence, as tough, hardy, and full of spirit as they are ill-fed, ill-clothed, and ill-looking," 1 surprised less than half their number. The officers and men of the Eleventh Corps in the main did well. But, asks Colonel Dodge, "what can be expected of new troops, taken by surprise and attacked in front, flank, and rear at once ?" 2 After a brief resistance they ran.

It was a dearly bought victory for the Confederates. Jackson, busy in the endeavor to re-form his troops who had fallen into confusion from the charge through the thick and tangled wood, and eager to discover the intentions of Hooker, rode with his escort forward beyond his line of battle. Fired upon by the Federal troops, they turned about, and as they rode back in the obscurity of the night, were mistaken for Union horsemen and shot at by their own soldiers, Jackson receiving a mortal wound. The disability of the general undoubtedly prevented his victory from being more complete. Sickles was in jeopardy, but the night was clear and the moon nearly full, and he fought his way back, reoccupying his breastworks.

Hooker, despondent at the rout of the Eleventh Corps, was in mind and nerve unfit for the exercise of his great responsibility. The story of Sunday the 3d of May is that of an incompetent commander in a state of nervous collapse confronted by an able and alert general. Early in the morning Jackson's corps, yelling fiercely and crying "Remember Jackson," made the attack, seconded by the troops under Lee's immediate command. The Union soldiers resisted bravely. The efforts of officers and men were praiseworthy, but there was no head, and nothing was effective that emanated from headquarters. Thirty to thirty-five thousand fresh troops, near at hand and eager to fight, were not called into action.3 The parting injunction of Lincoln to Hooker on
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1 T. A. Dodge, The Campaign of Chancellorsville, p. 92.
2 Ibid., p. 93.
3 Reynolds's corps, which crossed the river May 2, a portion of the 5th Corps, and Barlow's brigade of the 11th Corps make up this number.

his visit to the Army of the Potomac in April,1 "In your next battle putin all your men" 2 had gone unheeded.

Shortly after nine o'clock in the morning Hooker was knocked down and rendered senseless by a cannon ball striking a pillar of the veranda of Chancellor House, against which he was leaning; but at that time the battle was practically lost. "By 10 A. M." said Lee in his report, "we were in full possession of the field." 3

On the evening of May 2, after the rout of Howard, Hooker sent word to Sedgwick to march toward Chancellorsville and be "in our vicinity at daylight. You will probably fall upon the rear of the forces commanded by General Lee," the despatch continued, "and between us we will use him up."4 The commander had given Sedgwick an impossible undertaking. He was three miles below Fredericksburg on the south side of the river, and between him and Lee lay Early, with over 9000 men occupying places strongly fortified. He received the order at eleven at night, moved promptly, skirmishing as he advanced, and at daylight was in possession of Fredericksburg. To gain the road desired, he must take Marye's Heights, whence the Confederates the previous December had overwhelmed with slaughter Burnside's troops. Two storming columns were formed, flanked by the line of battle, and, advancing on the double quick under a destructive fire, carried the works on the heights, capturing guns and many prisoners.5 Sedgwick then marched towards Hooker; but ere this Hooker's battle of May 3 was over, with the result that he had been driven back from his position at Chancellorsville. Lee learned with much regret of the capture of Fredericksburg and Marye's Heights, and sent a
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1 The President reached Falmouth April 5, and remained there until the 10th. — National Intelligencer.
2 Century War Book, vol. iii. p. 120.
3 O. R., vol. xxv. part i. p. 800.
4 Ibid., part ii. p. 365.
6 Marye's Heights was not occupied by so large a force nor so stubbornly defended as when Burnside met there his crushing defeat.

portion of his force to meet Sedgwick's corps. They joined battle at Salem Church, and the Confederates got the better of it. The next day, May 4, leaving Jackson's corps to hold Hooker in check, Lee late in the afternoon fell with 25,000 men upon Sedgwick's 20,000, who resisted the attack until nightfall. Sedgwick, considering that he was hemmed in by the enemy, took advantage of the permission contained in one of the conflicting despatches that crossed between him and his commander, and withdrew that night to the north bank of the Rappahannock. All that day Hooker had done nothing to relieve Sedgwick, although only 22,000 Confederates confronted his 80,000. After a council of war he decided to recross the river, and by the morning of May 6 this movement was accomplished safely and without molestation. The loss of the Union army in the Chancellorsville campaign was 17,287; that of the Confederates, 12,46s.1

While Jackson lay suffering from his wounds, pneumonia set in, and eight days after his signal victory over Howard, he died. The Confederates had better lost the battle than
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1 My authorities for this account are the reports of Lee, Stuart, Halleck, Warren, Couch, Sickles, Meade, Sedgwick, Howard, Schurz, Devens, O. R, vol. xxv. part i.; the Union and Confederate correspondence, ibid., part ii.; T. A. Dodge's Chancellorsville; A. C. Hamlin's ibid.; Doubleday's ibid.; testimonies of Hooker, Butterfield, Warren, Sickles, Hancock, Devens, C. W., 1865, vol. i.; articles of Couch, Howard, Smith, Jackson, Colston, Benjamin, Hooker's comments on Chancellorsville, Century War Book, vol. iii.; Dabney's Jackson; Life of Jackson by his wife; Fitzhugh Lee's Lee; Taylor's ibid.; Long's ibid.; History of the 2d Army Corps, Walker; Walker's Hancock; Nicolay and Hay, vol. vii. chap, iv.; Swinton, Army of the Potomac.

The report gained currency that Hooker's mental collapse was due to intoxication. This is gainsaid by the testimony of Pleasanton, C. W., 1865, vol. i. p. 31; by Couch in his article, Century War Book, vol. iii. p. 170. "The story is positively contradicted by all of the officers who were with Hooker during the battle." — Nicolay and Hay, vol. iii. p. 108 note. I have heard the same denial from two officers. The truth seems to be that Hooker was accustomed to drink a large amount of whiskey daily without being prevented from attending to his round of duties, but when he started on this campaign, or at all events on the day that he reached Chancellorsville, from motives which do him honor, he stopped drinking entirely.

this commander of genius. Nothing will as well round the conception of him which we have already acquired from following his successful career as the testimony of the ablest and noblest representative of the Southern cause. On hearing that he was wounded Lee wrote to him: "Could I have directed events, I should have chosen for the good of the country to be disabled in your stead."1 After the war he declared, "Had I Stonewall Jackson at Gettysburg, I would have won a great victory." 2

With the fervent abolitionist poet, we of the North may "let a tear fall on Stonewall's bier." 3 He was the leader and the type of the very religious Scotch-Irish of the South, who, as we found out to our cost, were redoubtable fighters. They will never again meet us in civil strife; indeed in the war with Spain of 1898 the descendants of those who with sublime devotion had followed Stonewall Jackson responded to the common country's call.

Who may pretend to explain the incongruity of man? Both the conscientious Jackson and Barere, the man without a conscience, believed in waging war like barbarians. During the wars of the Revolution the Frenchman proposed to the Convention that no English or Hanoverian prisoners be taken.4 "I always thought," declared Jackson, that "we ought to meet the Federal invaders on the outer verge of just right and defence, and raise at once the black flag, viz., 'No quarter to the violators of our homes and firesides.' It would in the end have proved true humanity and mercy. The Bible is full of such wars, and it is the only policy that would bring the North to its senses." 5
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1 O. R., vol. xxv. part ii. p. 769.
2 Life of Lee, Fitzhugh Lee, p. 281. Longstreet wrote of Jackson's death: "The shock was a very severe one to men and officers, but the full extent of our loss was not felt until the remains of the beloved general had been sent home. The dark clouds of the future then began to lower above the Confederates." — Century War Book, vol. iiip. 245.
3 Barbara Frietchie.
4 La Revolution, Taine, tome iii. pp. 248, 250.
5 Life of Jackson, by his wife, p. 310.

Owing to the censorship of the telegraph by the War Department, the news of the disaster at Chancellorsville reached the North slowly. When its full extent became known, discouragement ruled. Many men who were earnest in the support of the war gave up all idea that the South could be conquered. Nothing demonstrates more painfully the sense of failure of the North to find a successful general than the serious and apparently well-considered suggestion of the Chicago Tribune that Abraham Lincoln take the field as the actual commander of the Army of the Potomac. We sincerely believe, the writer of this article concluded, that "Old Abe" can lead our armies to victory. "If he does not, who will?"1

Nevertheless, the gloom and sickness at heart so apparent after the first and second Bull Run, the defeat of McClellan before Richmond, and the battle of Fredericksburg are not discernible in anything like the same degree. It is true that the newspapers are not so accurate a reflection of public sentiment as they had been. There was unmistakably a large amount of editorial writing for the purpose of keeping up the hope of their readers; but even after the evidence of the newspapers is corrected by the recollections of contemporaries which are printed or still exist as tradition, it is impossible to resist the inference that the depression was different in kind and measure from that which had heretofore prevailed. Business, which had commenced to improve in the autumn of 1862, was now very active. An era of moneymaking had begun. It is seen in wild speculation on the stock exchanges, in legitimate transactions, and in the savings of the people finding an investment in the bonds of the government. Noticeable, also, is the sentiment that the war has helped trade and manufactures. The government was a large purchaser of material; one activity was breeding another; men honestly, and in some cases dishonestly, were gaining profits although the State was in distress. When
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1 May 23.

the news of the defeat at Chancellorsville reached New York, gold rose in price temporarily, but railroad stocks, at first unsettled, soon resumed their active advance, while government bonds remained steady and the subscriptions of the public to the five-twenties went on. That men had ceased to enlist was an indication alike of the weariness of the war and of the many opportunities of lucrative employment offered by the improvement of business. The war, so far as getting privates into the army was concerned, had become a trade. Men were induced to shoulder the musket by bounties from the national government, States, towns, and city wards.1
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1 See New York Tribune, May 4, 8, 11, 12, 14, 20; Times, May 7,9; World, May 6, 7, 8, 11; Herald, May 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; Boston Courier, May 9; Boston Advertiser, May 14, 20; Chicago Tribune, May 5, 6, 8, 23; National Intelligencer, May 9; Phila. Inquirer, May 8, 9.
Sumner wrote the Duchess of Argyll, June 2: "The North was never more prosperous; there is nothing in its streets or its fields to show the contest in which we are engaged. Wages are high, business is active, and every form of industry is well rewarded. The havoc of death reminds society of distant battles, and also the lame and maimed in the streets tell the same story." — Pierce's Sumner, vol. iv. p. 140.
The censorship of the telegraph demands more notice than the brief reference in the text. The first order that I have found in regard to it is July 8, 1861: "Henceforward the telegraph will convey no despatches concerning the operations of the Army not permitted by the Commanding General Winfield Scott. The above order is confirmed. — Simon Cameron." The second order is August 7, 1861: "By the fifty-seventh article of the Act of Congress entitled 'An act for establishing rules and articles for the government of the armies of the United States,' approved April 10, 1806, holding correspondence with, or giving intelligence to, the enemy, either directly or indirectly, is made punishable by death, or such other punishment as shall be ordered by the sentence of a court-martial. Public safety requires strict enforcement of this article. It is therefore ordered that all correspondence and communication, verbally, or by writing, printing, or telegraphing, respecting operations of the Army or military movements on land or water, or respecting the troops, camps, arsenals, intrenchments, or military affairs within the several military districts, by which intelligence shall be directly or indirectly given to the enemy without the authority and sanction of the major-general in command, be, and the same are, absolutely prohibited, and from and after the date of this order persons violating the same will be proceeded against under the fifty-seventh article of war. — Simon Cameron. Approved: A. Lincoln." — MS. War Dep't Archives. Stanton issued an order February 25, 1862, declaring that the President took "military possession of all the telegraphic lines in the United States." "All newspaper editors and publishers [were] forbidden to publish any intelligence received by telegraph or otherwise respecting military operations by the U. S. forces" unless "expressly authorized by the War Department" or by commanding generals. "If [this order is] violated by any paper issued to-morrow seize the whole edition," was the word sent by Stanton that day to all important cities. O. R., Series III. vol. i. p. 899. The newspapers complained of the censorship in the summer of 1862, also in Dec, when Seward resigned. At the time of the battle of Chancellorsville their complaints became bitter. I cite the expressions of three which supported the administration. "What does the government mean by this persistent suppression of telegraphic war despatches from Washington? The whole country is in an agony of expectation to know the progress of the tremendous combat which is going on in Virginia. Why should it not be allowed to know? We have too much respect for the members of the Cabinet to suppose for a moment that it is done for the benefit of stock-jobbers, and yet the whole effect of it is to give them the opportunities they so much desire." — New York Evening Post, May 5. "The distressing uncertainty which prevails as to the position of affairs on the Rappahannock is a sufficient illustration of the ill effects of the present system of dealing with military intelligence." — Boston Advertiser, May 14. "In the absence of any authentic or official news from the Army of the Potomac, our contemporaries at the North are very soundly berating the Secretary of War because of the 'Military Censorship' he established over the transmission of intelligence relating to the advance, progress, and retreat of General Hooker on the occasion of his recent brief campaign. And from the uniformity as well as the number of the complaints uttered ou this source, we are left to infer that the manner in which the embargo upon despatches as to military affairs was carried out during the late operations has met with very general censure, even from those who are most liberal in their views as to the supervision that may be judiciously exercised by the Government." — National Intelligencer, May 19.

After the battle of Chancellorsville, Lee gave his army a rest of some weeks. He employed the time in its reorganization, dividing it into three corps, each of three divisions, commanded respectively by Longstreet,1 Ewell, and A. P. Hill. Believing that nothing was to be gained by his army "remaining quietly on the defensive," 2 he decided, with the approval of Davis, on the invasion of Pennsylvania. This movement would at all events, by threatening Washington and drawing Hooker in pursuit of him, relieve Virginia of
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1 After the battle of Chancellorsville, Longstreet with his detachment joined Lee.
2 Lee to Seddon, O. R., vol. xxvii. part ill. p. 868.

the presence of a hostile army. But after such victories as Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville he would have been modest past belief had not his expectations gone far beyond so easy an achievement. He hoped to fight the Army of the Potomac on favorable conditions. With his own well-disciplined troops in high spirits and full of confidence in their leader, he could not have entertained an idea that the result would be other than a Confederate victory: perhaps even he might destroy the Union army, when Washington would be at his mercy and he could conquer a peace on Northern soil. Nothing at this time so disturbed the Southern high councils as the operations of Grant against Vicksburg. More than one project was proposed to save it from capture, but no diversion in its favor could be so effectual as the taking of the federal capital. If ever an aggressive movement with so high an object were to be made, now was the time. Not only was it to take advantage of the flush of Confederate success, but the South by delay would lose its efficiency for the offensive. "Our resources in men are constantly diminishing," wrote Lee to Davis, "and the disproportion in this respect between us and our enemies, if they continue united in their efforts to subjugate us, is steadily augmenting."1 We have had frequent occasion to admire the ability and decision of Lee. To those qualities were joined uncommon industry and attention to detail. He was a constant and careful reader of the Northern newspapers, and from the mass of news comment and speculation he drew many correct inferences, and hardly lost sight of any of the conditions which should be taken into account by him who would play well the game of war. He meditated on the weariness of the contest so largely felt at the North and the growing strength of the Democrats, due in the main to Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. "We should neglect no honorable means of dividing and weakening our enemies," he wrote to Davis. We should "give all the encouragement we can, consistently with the truth, to the
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1 June 10, O. R., vol. xxvii. part iii. p. 881.

rising peace party of the North. Nor do I think we should, in this connection, make nice distinctions between those who declare for peace unconditionally and those who advocate it as a means of restoring the Union, however much we may prefer the former."1 Lee must have followed with interest the career of Vallandigham, his arrest, trial, and banishment, and he must have noted the indignant protest that went up from the party opposed to the administration and the mild censure from some of its friends, both of which grew in strength with the suppression of the Chicago Times.

June 3 Lee began to move his army from the vicinity of Fredericksburg, and one week later put Ewell's corps in motion for the Shenandoah valley. Ewell drove the Union troops from Winchester and Martinsburg, and on the 15th part of his corps crossed the Potomac, the rest of it soon following. Hill and Longstreet moved forward, and by June 26 their corps had passed over the river and were in Maryland.

Hooker early suspected Lee's project of invasion, and when the movement commenced thought that he ought to attack the rear of the enemy: this operation he suggested to the President.2 "I have but one idea which I think worth suggesting to you," Lincoln replied, "and that is, in case you find Lee coming to the north of the Rappahannock I would by no means cross to the south of it. If he should leave a rear force at Fredericksburg, tempting you to fall upon it, it would fight in intrenchments and have you at disadvantage, and so, man for man, worst you at that point, while his main force would in some way be getting an advantage of you northward. In one word, I would not take any risk of being entangled upon the river like an ox jumped half over a fence, and liable to be torn by dogs in front and rear, without a fair chance to gore one way or kick the other."3 When Lee's

1 June 10, O. R., vol. xxvii. part iii. p. 881. What follows shows that Lee favored no peace except on the condition of the acknowledgment of the independence of the Southern Confederacy.
2 June 5, 11.30 A. m., ibid., part L p. 30.
3 June 5, 4 p. M., ibid., p. 31.

plan of operations was further disclosed, Hooker proposed to march "to Richmond at once." He felt sure that he could take it, thus "giving the rebellion a mortal blow."1 Lincoln's reply was prompt. "If left to me," he said, "I would not go south of the Rappahannock upon Lee's moving north of it. If you had Richmond invested to-day, you would not be able to take it in twenty days; meanwhile your communications and with them your army would be ruined. I think Lee's army and not Richmond is your sure objective point. If he comes toward the upper Potomac, follow on his flank and on his inside track, shortening your line while he lengthens his. Fight him, too, when opportunity offers. If he stays where he is, fret him and fret him." 2

In these despatches Lincoln exhibits common-sense. His diligent reading of military books, the acquirement of knowledge from his generals when occasion offered, the study of the field of war, the close observation of the campaigns and battles of his armies had borne fruit, making him now the best of counsellors in the relation of the civil commander-in-chief to his officers of technical training and experience. Especially at this time was such counsel necessary from a chief who possessed tact and knowledge of men. The relations between Halleck and Hooker were strained. There was a lack of the harmonious co-operation requisite between those holding so responsible positions.3 "Almost every request I made of General Halleck was refused," testified Hooker,4 while Halleck complained that Hooker reported directly to the President.5 The correspondence between the two generals is marked with acerbity. Moreover, some of the corps and
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1 June 10, 2.30 p. m., O. R., vol. xxvii. part i. p. 34.
3 June 10, 6.40 p. m., ibid., p. 35.
3 "You have long been aware, Mr. President, that I have not enjoyed the confidence of the major-general commanding the army, and I can assure you so long as this continues we may look in vain for success." — Hooker, June 16, ibid., p. 45. For Lincoln's reply, see Complete Works, vol. ii pp. 354, 355.
4 C. W., 1865, vol. i. p. 175.
5 O. R., vol. xxv. part ii. p. 606.

division commanders of the Army of the Potomac had lost confidence in their general.1 This strained situation while the Army of Northern Virginia under its able leader was advancing into the heart of the North might well have dismayed many a stout soul. Lincoln met the crisis without faltering.

When Lee's northward movement seemed certain, Hooker broke up his camps on the Rappahannock. In his march to the Potomac his management and dispositions were excellent The Confederates kept to the west of the Blue Ridge, he to the east, covering Washington constantly. Until this campaign the South had enjoyed the advantage of better cavalry: that superiority had now disappeared. This is one of many indications how surely the North was mastering the trade of war. The improvement in the Federal cavalry, which now did credit to the service, was in some degree due to Hooker, for it was a part of his efficient reorganization of the Army of the Potomac. During the march northward they met in combat several times the Confederate horsemen, and in the main fought successfully. Yet so obstinate were the contests and so skilful were the manoeuvres that each body of horse acted as a screen to its army, and Lee and Hooker were each kept in ignorance of the movements of the enemy. Formerly it had been too frequently the case that the Confederate knew everything and the Union commander little or nothing.

Ewell waited at Hagerstown, Maryland, until Longstreet and Hill should be within supporting distance. June 22 he received orders allowing him to move forward. "If Harrisburg comes within your means, capture it," was one of the directions which came from Lee.2 Ewell, advancing into Pennsylvania to Chambersburg, reached Carlisle on the 27th, and sent Early with one division to seize upon York. On the formal surrender of the town by the chief burgess and a deputation of citizens, Early laid it under contribution, receiving 1000 hats, 1200 pairs of shoes, 1000 socks, three days' rations of all kinds, and $28,600 United States money. He destroyed between
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1 O. R., vol. xxv. part 11. p. 479.
2 Ibid., vol. xxvii. part iii. p. 914.

MAP SHOWING ROUTE OF EWELL'S CORPS FROM FREDERICKSBURG, VA., TO GETTYSBURG, PA., AND RETURN TO ORANGE COURT-HOUSE, VA.

Hanover Junction and York the Northern Central Railroad, which ran from Baltimore to Harrisburg, and sent an expedition to take possession of the Columbia bridge over the Susquehanna. He intended to march his division across it, cut the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, take Lancaster, make a requisition upon the town for supplies, and attack Harrisburg in the rear while the rest of Ewell's corps assailed it from the front. But a regiment of Pennsylvania militia in fleeing before the Confederates set fire to the bridge and destroyed it. Meanwhile Ewell sent forward his cavalry with a section of artillery to make a reconnaissance. They approached within three miles of Harrisburg, engaging the pickets of the militia forces assembled there under General Couch for its defence. June 29 Ewell had everything in readiness, and purposed moving on the defences of Harrisburg. Two days previously Longstreet and Hill had reached Chambersburg, and Lee was there in command. His whole army, numbering 75,000 men, was on Pennsylvania soil.

By the middle of June the movements of Lee in Virginia warned the North of the approaching invasion. The President called for 100,000 militia from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia,1 the States regarded as in immediate danger. The Secretary of War asked help from the governors of thirteen of the other States. No response was so prompt, no action so effective, as that of Horatio Seymour of New York. "I will spare no effort to send you troops at once" was the word which came from him over the wires.2 June 16 the Confederate cavalry were heard of at Chambersburg, and busy preparations were made to defend the threatened points. At first the surmise gained ground that Pittsburg was in jeopardy.3 Alarm spread through the city, business was suspended, shops were closed, factories stopped.
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1 Proclamation of June 15, O. R., vol. xxvii. part iii. p. 136. 2 Ibid., p. 138. 8 "Lee's army is in motion towards the Shenandoah valley. Pittsburg and Wheeling should be put in defensible condition as rapidly as possible." — Halleck to Brooks, June 14.

The citizens turned out in crowds to throw up intrenchments on the surrounding hills. One day it was reported that 14,000 were at work with picks and shovels, and these men were ready to take up rifles or man the batteries should the enemy appear. Mill-owners organized their laborers into companies, and the government furnished them arms and ammunition. A number of prominent citizens, representing the committee of public safety, requested the President to authorize Brooks, the general in command, to declare martial law, although Brooks thought this step unnecessary and unwise. Some desired that McClellan be placed in command of the militia for home defence; others urged the President to give them Fremont, who would inspire confidence and enthusiasm, and bring forward many thousand volunteers.1

At one time there was some anxiety for Washington and Baltimore. Stuart in a cavalry raid passed between the Union army and these cities. It was in the Cumberland valley of Pennsylvania, however, that the presence of the enemy was actually and painfully felt. Yet the Confederates under the immediate command of Lee committed little or no depredation and mischief. Before he himself crossed the river into Maryland, he wrote to Davis, "I shall continue to purchase all the supplies that are furnished me while north of the Potomac, impressing only where necessary,"2 and he exerted himself to the utmost to have his wishes in this regard observed. His order of June 21 enjoined scrupulous respect for private property, and that of the 27th, after he had reached Chambersburg, manifested his satisfaction with his troops for their general good behavior, but mentioned that there had been "instances of forgetfulness," and warned them that such offenders should be brought to summary punishment.3 Military discipline, mercy, and the desire to do everything possible
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1 O. R, vol. xxvii. part iii. pp. 143, 168, 188, 204,240, 348; despatch from Pittsburg to Phila. Inquirer, June 23; New York Times, June 26; Pittsburg Gazette, cited by New York Times, June 27.
2 June 23, O. R., vol. xxvii. part li. p. 298.
3 Ibid., part iii. pp. 912, 942.

"to promote the pacific feeling" at the North1 prompted him to such a course. It is true that the payment for supplies was made in Confederate money which turned out to be worthless, but in estimating his motives it must be remembered that he paid with the only currency that he had, a currency which bade fair to have a considerable value should his confident expectation of defeating the Union army on Pennsylvania soil be realized. No attestation of Lee's sincerity in issuing these orders is needed, but it is grateful to read in various Northern journals of the time words of praise of the Southern commanders for restraining their soldiers from "acts of wanton mischief and rapine." 2

No matter how mercifully war may be carried on, it is at the best a rude game. At first the raid of the Confederate horsemen caused excitement in the Cumberland valley. The feeling of relief when they fell back was only temporary, and gave place to alarm and distress as Ewell's corps advanced, and later the rest of Lee's army. The country was wild with rumors. Men, women, and children fled before the enemy, and care was taken to run their horses out of the way of the invader. The refugees deemed themselves and their property safe when they had crossed the broad Susquehanna. The bridge over the river, the communication of the Cumberland valley with Harrisburg, was thronged with wagons laden with household goods and furniture. Negroes fled before the advancing host, fearing that they might be dragged back to slavery. June
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1 See Lee to Davis, June 25, O. R., vol. xxvii. part iii. p. 930.
2 National Intelligencer, June 30; New York Herald, June 28; Boston Courier, June 23; Columbia (Pa.) despatch to New York Tribune, June 29. This is all the more creditable to Lee as he did not believe that the Northern generals had shown the same forbearance. "I grieve over the desolation of the country and the distress to innocent women and children, occasioned by spiteful incursions of the enemy, unworthy of a civilized nation." — Lee to Seddon, June 13. In a letter of June 15 to Hunter, Lee speaks of the "outrages of our barbarous enemy. Their conduct is such as to excite the horror and detestation of the civilized world." —O. R., vol. xxvii. part iii. pp. 886, 894. See, also, the charges in his order of June 27, when, however, he declares against any measure of retaliation. "We make war only upon armed men," he said. — Ibid., p. 943.

26 Curtin, the governor of Pennsylvania, issued a proclamation calling for 60,000 men to come forward promptly "to defend their soil, their families, and their firesides."1 Harrisburg, the capital of the State, was indeed in danger, as was realized by the authorities and the citizens. Thirty regiments of Pennsylvania militia, besides artillery and cavalry, and nineteen regiments from New York2 assembled under the command of General Couch, who disposed his forces to the best advantage, stationing a large portion of them for the defence of Harrisburg. In the city all places of business were closed, and citizens labored on the fortifications with the pick and the spade. Men were enrolled by wards and drilled in the park and on the streets. The railroad depot was a scene of excitement, caused by the arrival in large numbers of volunteers and the departure of women and frightened men. The progress of the enemy was pretty accurately known. Reports ran that he was twenty-three miles from the city, then eighteen. June 28 cannonading was heard for two hours, and every one knew that the Confederates were within four miles of the Capitol. Harrisburg would probably have been taken had not Ewell's corps been called back by Lee.3

If Harrisburg were captured it was thought that the Confederates would march on Philadelphia. Men well informed
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1 O. R., vol. xxvii. part iii. p. 347.
2 "The President directs me to return his thanks to His Excellency Governor Seymour and his staff for their energetic and prompt action." — Stanton, June 18, ibid., p. 205. "I cannot forbear expressing to you the deep obligation I feel for the prompt and candid support you have given to the Government in the present emergency. The energy, activity, and patriotism you have exhibited, I may be permitted personally and officially to acknowledge without arrogating any personal claims on my part in such service or to any service whatever." — Stanton to Seymour, June 27, Public Record of H. Seymour, p. 117. "The Governor of New York pushed forward his regiments with alacrity. They were generally armed and equipped ready for field service, and their arrival brought confidence." — Couch's report, July 15, O. R., vol. xxvii. part ii. p. 214.
3 Couch's report and correspondence, ibid., parts ii. and iii.; Harrisburg correspondence, Phila. Inquirer, June 16 to 28.

believed that Lee had nearly 100,000 men and 250 pieces of artillery.1 A strong pressure in Philadelphia and elsewhere was brought to bear upon the President to place McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac, or, at all events, of the militia for the defence of Pennsylvania. The Washington National Intelligencer, in an article entitled "A Calm Appeal," said, "After much reflection and with a full sense of the responsibility which it involves, we feel it our solemn duty at this juncture to avow the deliberate but earnest conviction that the President cannot by any one act do so much to restore the confidence of the nation as by the recall of General McClellan to the Army of the Potomac."2 These words were the expression of a serious and powerful sentiment at the North. The board of Councilmen of New York City passed unanimously a resolution, Republicans as well as Democrats voting for it, asking for the restoration of McClellan to the command.3 It was reported that certain prominent citizens of Philadelphia had requested him to come to their city and " take military charge of things generally." 4 Governor Parker telegraphed to the President that "The people of New Jersey want McClellan at the head of the Army of the Potomac. If that cannot be done, then we ask" that he be placed in command of the militia from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania "defending these Middle States from invasion. If either appointment be made the people would rise enmasse." 5 A. K. McClure, a steadfast Republican and friend of the administration, urged that McClellan be given a command.6 The Common Council of Philadelphia asked it.7 When Governor Curtin made a speech in that city to rouse its citizens, he was interrupted by cries,
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1 Simon Cameron to Lincoln, June 29, O. R., vol. xxvii. part iii. p. 409.
2 June 18.
3 National Intelligencer, June 23.
4 O. R, vol. xxvii. part iii. p. 391.
5 Ibid., p. 409.
6 McClure to Lincoln, June 30, ibid., p. 430,
7 New York Tribune, July 1.

"Give us McClellan."1 A rumor got abroad in New York City that he had been made general-in-chief in the place of Halleck. He chanced to come to town that day from New Jersey, and was greeted with cheers from crowds of enthusiastic people.2 But there was probably no thought of placing him at the head of the Army of the Potomac or of the militia in Pennsylvania. Lincoln replied kindly to Governor Parker: "I beg you to be assured that no one out of my position can know so well as if he were in it, the difficulties and involvements of replacing General McClellan in command, and this aside from any imputations upon him."3

On the evening of June 28 the rumor circulated in Philadelphia that the Confederates were shelling Harrisburg. Chestnut and Market streets were thronged with thousands of men eager for news. The next day two prominent citizens telegraphed to the President that they had reliable information that the enemy in large force was marching upon Philadelphia. Other men of influence desired him to give the general in command authority to declare martial law. Business stopped. The merchants, the manufacturers of iron, the proprietors of machine shops, the coal operators held meetings, and offered inducements to their workmen to enlist for the defence of the State. The members of the Corn Exchange furnished five companies. A meeting of the soldiers of the War of 1812 and another of clergymen were held to offer their services for home defence. It was said that bankers and merchants were
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1 New York Tribune, July 2.
2 New York Herald, July 1. Less than a month before, Thurlow Weed had endeavored without success to induce McClellan to identify himself with the Union party. — Life of Weed, vol. ii. p. 428; Nicolay and Hay, vol. ix. p. 247.
3 June 30, O. R., vol. xxvii. part iii. p. 437. One gets an inkling of this from the comment of the New York Evening Post on the NationalIntelligencer article of June 18. It said, June 23: "The utter rout and annihilation of the Army of the Potomac by the rebel forces under Lee in a pitched battle would not be a severer blow to the hopes of the friends of the Union than such an act of folly on the part of Lincoln," — i.e., the restoration of McClellan to the command.

making preparations to remove specie and other valuables from the city. Receipts and shipments on the Pennsylvania Railroad were suspended. With all the disturbance and alarm there was no panic. The excitement was at its height from June 27 to July 1. July 1 the sale of government five-twenties for the day amounted to $1,700,000. Few trains were running on the eastern division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and it was expected that the track would in many places be destroyed, yet the shares of this company sold in Philadelphia at 61 3/4 June 27, and at 60 July 1, on a par basis of 50, —a fact as worthy of report as the story of Livy that the ground on which Hannibal encamped his army three miles from Rome, happening at that very time to be sold, brought a price none the lower on account of its possession by the invader.1 While gold advanced in New York, there was no panic in the stock market.2

When the alarm at the invasion of Pennsylvania was at its height, when every man in the North tremblingly took up his morning newspaper and with a sinking heart watched the daily bulletins, the intelligence came that there had been a change in commanders of the Army of the Potomac.3 Those in authority depended for the salvation of Harrisburg, Baltimore, and Washington on this army, which the public with its half-knowledge of the situation also felt to be their mainstay.4

Hooker, following upon Lee's right flank and covering
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1 Book xxvi. c. xi.
2 O. R, vol. xxvii. part iii. pp. 366, 409; Phila. Inquirer, June 29, 30, July 1, 2 ; Boston Advertiser, New York Times, World, Tribune, July 1. Pennsylvania Railroad sold no lower than 60 on the regular board June 29, 125 shares were sold outside of the board at 55. June 30 there were no, transactions.
3 This news appeared in the New York journals of June 30.
4 "Neither this capital nor Harper's Ferry could long hold out against a large force. They must depend for their security very much upon the co-operation of your army." — Halleck to Hooker, June 5, O. R., vol. xxvii. part i. p. 32. "My whole force organized is perhaps 16,000 men. Five thousand regulars will whip them all to pieces in an open field." — Couch to Stanton, Harrisburg, June 29, ibid., part iii. p. 407.

Washington, crossed the Potomac,1 and June 27 made his headquarters at Frederick, Maryland. He proposed to strike Lee's line of communications with Richmond, and desired the garrison of 10,000, holding Maryland Heights, which commanded Harper's Ferry, as a reinforcement to the corps he had ordered to march west for that purpose. "Is there any reason why Maryland Heights should not be abandoned?" he asked Halleck.2 "I cannot approve their abandonment," was the answer, "except in case of absolute necessity."3 Hooker wrote a reply proving that the troops in question were "of no earthly account at Harper's Ferry," while, if placed at his disposition, they might be used to advantage. He ended his despatch with begging that it be presented to the President and the Secretary of War. Immediately after he had sent it, his growing anger at what he considered the unwise and shackling instructions of the general-in-chief prompted him to write, apparently in a fit of petulance, a second despatch asking to be relieved of his position.4 Halleck received the second telegram five minutes after the first, and referred it to the President. Lincoln made up his mind quickly, and sent an officer to the Army of the Potomac with an order relieving Hooker and appointing in his place George G. Meade. It was an excellent choice. Meade looked like a student, had scholarly habits, was an officer of courage and ability, and commanded now the Fifth Corps, having served in the Potomac army with credit, even distinction. Receiving the communication from the President late on the night of June 27 or early the next morning, he answered it at 7 A. M. in a tone of genuineness which betokened confidence. "As a soldier," he said, "I obey the order placing me in command of this army, and to the utmost of my ability will
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1 June 25, 26.
2 June 26, 7 P. m., O. R., vol. xxvii. part i. p. 58.
3 June 27, 10.30 A. m., ibid., p. 59.
4 Both of these despatches are noted as having been sent at 1 p. m. June 27.

execute it."1 The appointment was satisfactory to the officers of the army. Although the risk was great in making a change of generals at so critical a moment, Fortune attended the step and smiled on the new commander during the next five days which gave him fame.

"You are intrusted," wrote Halleck to Meade, "with all the power which the President, the Secretary of War, or the General-in-Chief can confer upon you, and you may rely upon our full support." In answer to a specific inquiry, Meade received for a second time the permission to do as he pleased with the garrison on Maryland Heights.2 He withdrew it, and posted the larger part of the troops at Frederick as a reserve.

He estimated Lee's force at 80,000 to 100,000; his own he placed at the larger number.3 His resolution was prompt. June 29 and 30 he advanced northward, and by the evening of the 30th the First Corps had crossed the Pennsylvania line, while the Third and the Eleventh were in the northern part of Maryland; these three constituting the left wing of the army under the command of General Reynolds. The Twelfth Corps lay in Pennsylvania, but at some distance east of the First. Meade established his headquarters at Taneytown, Maryland, thirteen miles south of Gettysburg, retaining the Second and Fifth Corps within easy reach. The Sixth Corps was likewise in Maryland, but lay farther to the eastward, thirty-four miles from Gettysburg. Meade had been prompt to command, his subordinates zealous to obey. The officers, sinking for the moment all their rivalries and jealousies, were careful and untiring in their efforts, while the soldiers did wonders in making long and rapid marches in the hot sun and sultry air of the last days of June. The main idea of Meade had been "to find and fight the enemy," 4
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1 O. R., vol. xxvii. part i. p. 61.
2 June 27, 28, ibid., pp. 61, 62, 63. In the controversy which has arisen on this subject, this is sometimes spoken of as the garrison at Harper's Ferry.
3 Ibid., pp. 65, 114.
4 Ibid., p. 67.

at the same time covering Baltimore and Washington. Hearing now that Lee was falling back and concentrating his army, he announced his present design in a despatch to Halleck. "The news proves my advance has answered its purpose," he said. "I shall not advance any, but prepare to receive an attack in case Lee makes one. A battle-field is being selected to the rear on which the army can be rapidly concentrated." 1

The first mistake in Lee's campaign arose from the absence of Stuart's cavalry. He had no accurate and speedy knowledge of the movements of the Federals. His own and Longstreet's instructions to Stuart lacked precision, and Stuart made an unwise use of his discretion. Forgetting perhaps that the main use of horsemen in an enemy's country is to serve as the eyes of the army, the spirit of adventure led him into a raid about the Union troops which lost him all communication with the Confederate army, so that Lee was in the dark as to the progress of his adversary. On the night of June 28 a scout brought word to him that the Union army had crossed the Potomac and was advancing northward. His communications with Virginia were menaced, and he did not dare to let them be intercepted. He might indeed for a while live upon the country, but he could not in his position suffer the interruption of his supplies of ammunition. He called Ewell back from his projected attack upon Harrisburg, and ordered him as well as Longstreet and Hill to march to Gettysburg, on the east side of the South Mountain range.

July 1 Reynolds came in contact with the Confederates. Buford with his cavalry having the day before taken possession of Gettysburg and occupied Seminary Ridge west of the town was resisting their advance when Reynolds with the First Corps came to his assistance. Sending orders to Howard to advance promptly with the Eleventh, Reynolds selected the battle-field and opened the battle of Gettysburg, but he
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1 On Pipe Creek (Maryland). Meade's despatch is from Taneytown at noon, July 1.

did not live to see the result of his heroic stand. Before noon he received a bullet in his brain and died instantly. "The death of this splendid officer," writes Fitzhugh Lee with grace, "was regretted by friend and foe," and borrowing the words of another, he adds, "No man died on that field with more glory than he; yet many died, and there was much glory!"1

After Reynolds's death matters went badly for the First and Eleventh Corps. They were "overborne by superior numbers and forced back through Gettysburg with great slaughter."2 Buford's despatch of 3.20 p.m. points out an important reason for the defeat. "In my opinion," he said, "there seems to be no directing person." 3 All was confusion and looked like disaster when Hancock arrived on the field. On hearing that Reynolds was killed, Meade, with his excellent judgment of the right man for the place, sent Hancock forward to take the command. He restored order and inspired confidence while the Union troops were placed in a strong position on Cemetery Hill east of the town. It is thought that if the Confederates had been prompt they might have carried the height, but the order to do so from Lee to Ewell was conditional, and with his force then present he did not deem the attempt practicable.4 Nevertheless, the first day of the battle of Gettysburg was a Confederate success. Late in the afternoon of July 1 Slocum with the Twelfth Corps had arrived at Gettysburg. Sickles with the Third Corps marched thither with celerity and zeal. The reports of Hancock, Howard, and others decided Meade that Gettysburg was a good place to fight his battle, and he issued orders to all of his corps to concentrate at that point. He himself arrived upon the battle-field at one in the morning,6 pale, tired-looking, hollow-eyed, and worn out from want of sleep, anxiety, and the weight of responsibility.6
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1 Life of General Lee, p. 272.
2 Walker, Second Army Corps, p. 264
3 O. R., vol. xxvii. part i. p. 925.
4 Ibid., part ii. p. 318.
5 July 2.
6 Doubleday, p. 156; Nicolay and Hay, vol. vii. p. 246.

By the afternoon of July 2, Lee and Meade had their whole forces on the field,1 the armies being about a mile apart. Lee had 70,000, Meade 93,500, less the losses of the first day, which had been much greater on the Union than on the Confederate side. The Confederates occupied Seminary Ridge in a line concave in form, the Federals Cemetery Ridge in a convex line, a position admirably adapted for defence. Meade decided to await attack, and if he had studied closely the character and history of his energetic adversary, he might have been almost certain that it would come. Longstreet, however, differed with his commander. In a conversation at the close of the first day's fight, he expressed a desire that their troops be thrown around the left of the Union army, interposing themselves between it and Washington and forcing Meade to take the offensive. The anxiety of Lee at receiving no information from his cavalry had become excitement, and, somewhat irritated at a suggestion contrary to what he had determined upon, he said, "No, the enemy is there and I am going to attack him." 2 From the commencement of his invasion, he had shown contempt of his foe. The stretching of his line from Fredericksburg to Winchester in the face of an opponent who had greater numbers can bear no other construction.3 While he deemed Meade a better general than Hooker, he thought that the change of commanders at this critical moment counterbalanced the advantage in generalship;4 and while he was astonished at the rapid and efficient movements of the Army
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1 The statements in regard to Pickett are not exactly the same, but I have followed Lee's report of January, 1864, in which he says that "Pickett's three brigades arrived near the battle-field during the afternoon of the 2d." —O. R., vol. xxvii. part ii. p. 320.
2 Longstreet's article, Century War Book, vol. iii. p. 339.
3 Hunt's article, ibid., p. 265; Life of Lee, Long, p. 271. Lincoln to Hooker, June 14: "If the head of Lee's army is at Martinsburg [north of Winchester] and the tail of it on the plank road between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the animal must be very slim somewhere. Could you not break him ?" — Complete Works, vol. ii. p. 352.
4 Long, p. 274.

of the Potomac after Meade took command, he had undoubtedly become convinced from his almost unvarying success that he and his army were invincible, — a confidence shared by nearly all of his officers and men. His victories on his own soil were extraordinary, but if we compare his campaigns of invasion with those of Napoleon we shall see how far he fell short when he undertook operations in an unfriendly country, although the troops that followed him were in fighting qualities unsurpassed. "Except in equipment," writes General Alexander, "I think a better army, better nerved up to its work, never marched upon a battle-field."1 With such soldiers, if Lee had been as great a general as Napoleon, Gettysburg had been an Austerlitz, Washington and the Union had fallen.

Lee was up betimes on the morning of July 2, but the movements of his soldiers were slow, and he lost much of the advantage of his more speedy concentration than Meade's. The afternoon was well advanced when he began his attack, and by that time the last of the Union army, the Sixth Corps, which had marched thirty-four miles in eighteen hours, was arriving. There was tremendous fighting and heavy loss that afternoon on both wings of each army. On the Union side Warren and Humphreys distinguished themselves. Sickles was struck by a cannon ball that caused the loss of a leg and was borne from the field. The result of the day is accurately told by Lee: "We attempted to dislodge the enemy, and, though we gained some ground, we were unable to get possession of his position." 2 The Confederate assaults had been disjointed: to that mistake is ascribed their small success.

The feeling among the officers in Meade's camp that night was one of gloom. On the first day of the battle the First
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1 Century War Book, vol. iii. p. 358.
2 July 4, to Davis, O. R., vol. xxvii. part ii. p. 298. Meade to Halleck, 8 p. m., July 2: "The enemy attacked me about 4 p. M. this day, and, after one of the severest contests of the war, was repulsed at all points. We have suffered considerably in killed and wounded." — Ibid., part i. p. 72.

and Eleventh corps had been almost annihilated. On the second day the Fifth and part of the Second had been shattered; the Third, in the words of its commander who succeeded Sickles, was "used up and not in good condition to fight." 1 The loss of the army had been 20,000 men.2 Only the Sixth and Twelfth corps were fresh. But the generals had not lost spirit, and in the council of war called by Meade all voted to "stay and fight it out." 8 The rank and file had fought as Anglo-Saxons nearly always fight on their own soil. On the first day and the morning of the second the martial ardor of many of the men had been mingled with cheerfulness at the report that McClellan had been restored to his old command. "The boys are all jubilant over it," said a soldier to General Hunt, "for they know that if he takes command everything will go right."4 We may guess that on this gloomy night the men went over again in their minds the fate of their army when under Pope, Burnside, and Hooker it had encountered the veterans of Lee, but in spite of this doleful retrospect they must have felt in some measure "the spirit that animated general headquarters,"5 the energy of Meade and the faithful co-operation of his generals.

Meade had no thought of taking the offensive, and was busy in improving the natural defences of his position with earthworks. The partial successes of the Confederates 6 determined Lee to continue the attack on the 3d of July. In the early morning there was fighting on the right of the Union line. Then followed an unnatural stillness. "The whole field became as silent as a churchyard until one
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1 Birney at the Council of War, O. R., vol. xxvii. part i. p. 74; Doubleday, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, p. 185, note 1; Walker's Hancock, p. 130. a C. W., 1865, vol. 1. p. 350.
3 The words of General Henry Slocum which summarize the decision, [“Stay and fight it out!” he said,] O. R., vol. xxvii. part i. p. 73. 4 Century War Book, vol. lii. p. 301. 5 General Walker, Second Army Corps, p. 99.
5 Well stated by General Hunt, Century War Book, vol. iii. p. 369.

o'clock."1 Suddenly came from the Confederate side the reports of two signal guns in quick succession. A bombardment from one hundred and fifteen cannon commenced, and was replied to by eighty guns of the Union army, whose convex line, advantageous in other respects, did not admit of their bringing into action a large part of their artillery. "It was a most terrific and appalling cannonade," said Hancock.2 But it did little damage. The Union soldiers lay under the protection of stone walls, swells of the ground, and earthworks, and the projectiles of the enemy passed over their heads, sweeping the open ground in their rear. Everybody from the commanding general to the privates felt that this was only preliminary to an infantry charge, and all braced themselves for the tug of war. Hancock with his staff, his corps flag flying, rode deliberately along the front of his line,8 and by his coolness and his magnificent presence inspired his men with courage and determination. For an hour and a half this raging cannonade was kept up, when Hunt, the chief of the Union artillery, finding his ammunition running low, gave the order to cease firing. The Confederates thought that they had silenced the Federal batteries, and made preparation for their next move.

Longstreet had no sympathy with the vigorously offensive tactics of his chief; and when Lee on the morning of this July 3 directed him to be ready after the bombardment had done its work to make an attack with Pickett's fresh division reinforced from Hill's corps up to 15,000 men, he demurred, arguing that the assault could not succeed. Lee showed a little impatience, apparently made no reply, and by silence insisted on the execution of his order. Longstreet took Pickett to the crest of Seminary Ridge, pointed out to him what was to be done, and left him with a heavy heart. Alexander of the artillery was directed to note carefully the effect of his fire, and when the favorable moment came to give
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1 Alexander, Century War Book, vol. ill. p. 362.
2 C. W., 1865, vol. i. p. 410.
3 Walker's Hancock, p. 139.

Pickett the order to charge. He did not like this responsibility, and asked Longstreet for specific instructions, but the reply which came lacked precision. Still the artillery must open, and when the fire of the Federal guns had ceased, as has been related, Alexander, looking anxiously through his glass at the points whence it had proceeded, and observing no sign of life in the five minutes that followed, sent word to Pickett: "For God's sake, come quick. . . . Come quick, or my ammunition won't let me support you properly."1 Pickett went to Longstreet. "General, shall I advance ?" he asked. Longstreet could not speak, but bowed in answer. "Sir," said Pickett, with a determined voice, "I shall lead my division forward."2 Alexander had ceased firing. Longstreet rode to where he stood, and exclaimed: "I don't want to make this attack. I would stop it now but that General Lee ordered it and expects it to go on. I don't see how it can succeed."8 But as he spoke Pickett at the head of his troops rode over the crest of Seminary Ridge and began his descent down the slope. "As he passed me," writes Longstreet, "he rode gracefully, with his jaunty cap raked well over on his right ear, and his long auburn locks, nicely dressed, hanging almost to his shoulders. He seemed a holiday soldier."4 From the other side the Union soldiers watched the advance of Pickett and his fifteen thousand with suspense, with admiration. As they came forward steadily and in perfect order with banners flying, those who looked on might for the moment have thought it a Fourth of July parade.

The Confederates had nearly a mile to go across the valley. As they descended the slope on that clear afternoon under the July sun in full view of their foe, they received a dreadful fire from the Union batteries, which had been put in entire readiness to check such an onset. Steadily and coolly they advanced. After they had got away, the Confederate artillery reopened over their heads, in the effort to draw the deadly fire
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1 Century War Book, vol. iii. p. 364:
2 Ibid., p. 365.
3 Ibid., p. 345.
4 Ibid., p. 345.

directed at them from Cemetery Ridge; but the Union guns made no change in aim, and went on mowing down Pickett's men. Half-way across there was the shelter of a ravine. They stopped for a moment to breathe, then advanced again, still in good order. A storm of canister came. The slaughter was terrible. The left staggered; but, nothing daunted, Pickett and what was left of his own division of forty-nine hundred pressed on in the lead. The other divisions followed. Now the Union infantry opened fire. Pickett halted at musket range and discharged a volley, then rushed on up the slope. Near the Federal lines he made a pause "to close ranks and mass for a final plunge." 1 In the last assault Armistead, a brigade commander, pressed forward, leaped the stone wall, waved his sword with his hat on it, shouted, "Give them the cold steel, boys!" and laid his hands upon a gun.' A hundred of his men had followed. They planted the Confederate battle-flags on Cemetery Ridge among the cannon they had captured and for the moment held. Armistead was shot down; Garnett and Kemper, Pickett's other brigadiers, fell. The wavering divisions of Hill's corps "seemed appalled, broke their ranks," and fell back. "The Federals swarmed around Pickett," writes Longstreet, "attacking on all sides, enveloped and broke up his command. They drove the fragments back upon our lines." 3 Pickett gave the word to retreat.

The Confederates in their charge had struck the front of the Second Corps. Hancock, its commander," the best tactician of the Potomac army," 4 showed the same reckless courage as Armistead, and seemed to be everywhere directing and encouraging his troops. Struck by a ball, he fell from his horse; and lying on the ground, "his wound spouting blood," he raised himself on his elbow and gave the order, "Go in,
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1 Longstreet, Century War Book, vol. iii. p. 346.
2 This is almost exactly quoted from Doubleday, p. 195.
3 Century War Book, vol. iii. p. 347.
4 Walker, Second Army Corps, p. 296.

Colonel, and give it to them on the flank."1 Not until the battle of Gettysburg was over did he resign himself to his surgeon, and shortly afterwards he dictated this despatch to Meade: "I have never seen a more formidable attack, and if the Sixth and Fifth corps have pressed up, the enemy will be destroyed. The enemy must be short of ammunition, as I was shot with a tenpenny nail.2 I did not leave the field till the victory was entirely secured and the enemy no longer in sight. I am badly wounded, though I trust not seriously. I had to break the line to attack the enemy in flank on my right, where the enemy was most persistent after the front attack was repelled. Not a rebel was in sight upright when I left." 3

Decry war as we may and ought, "breathes there the man with soul so dead" who would not thrill with emotion to claim for his countrymen the men who made that charge and the men who met it?4

Longstreet, calm and self-possessed, meriting the name "bulldog" applied to him by his soldiers,5 expected a counter attack, and made ready for it. Lee, entirely alone, rode up to encourage and rally his broken troops. "His face did not show signs of the slightest disappointment, care, or annoyance," recorded an English officer in his diary on the day of the battle, "and he was addressing to every soldier he met a few words of encouragement, such as, 'All this will come right in the end: we '11 talk it over afterwards, but in the mean time all good men must rally. We want all good and true men just now.' He spoke to all the wounded men that passed him, and the slightly wounded he exhorted 'to bind
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1 Walker's Hancock, p. 143.
2 For an exact account of Hancock's wound, see ibid., p. 148.
3 O. R., vol. xxvii. part i. p. 366.
4 The loss of the Union army in the three days' battles was 3072 killed, 14,497 wounded, 5434 captured or missing, total 23,003; that of the Confederates, 2592 killed, 12,709 wounded, 5150 captured or missing, total 20,451.— Century War Book, vol. iii. pp. 437, 439.
5 Three Months in the Southern States, Lieut.-Col. Fremantle (New York 1864), p. 266.

up their hurts and take up a musket' in this emergency. Very few failed to answer his appeal, and I saw many badly wounded men take off their hats and cheer him. He said to me, 'This has been a sad day for us, Colonel — a sad day; but we can't expect always to gain victories.' . . .

Notwithstanding the misfortune which had so suddenly befallen him, General Lee seemed to observe everything, however trivial. When a mounted officer began licking his horse for shying at the bursting of a shell, he called out, 'Don't whip him, Captain; don't whip him. I've got just such another foolish horse myself, and whipping does no good.'"

An officer almost angry came up to report the state of his brigade. "General Lee immediately shook hands with him and said cheerfully, 'Never mind, General, all this has been MY fault — it is I that have lost this fight, and you must help me out of it in the best way you can.'"1

The Books are full of the discussion whether or not Meade should have made a counter-attack. Those who say he ought to have done this maintain that the Confederate army might have been destroyed. It is true that he did not appreciate the magnitude of his victory,2 but ought the critic to demand from him any greater military sagacity than from Lee? The Confederate general under similar circumstances did not comprehend how badly he had beaten Burnside at Fredericksburg and did not follow up his great success.3

We need concern ourselves only for a moment with the controversy between Longstreet and the friends of Lee. It is clear that Longstreet did not give his commander the
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1 Three Months in the Southern States, Lieut.-Col. Fremantle (New York 1864), p. 268.
2 See his despatch to Halleck, July 3, 8.35 p. m., O. R., vol. xxvii. part i. p. 74.
3 Ante, p. 198. Halleck wrote Grant, July 11: "Meade has thus far proved an excellent general, the only one, in fact, who has ever fought the Army of the Potomac well. He seems the right man in the right place. Hooker was more than a failure. Had he remained in command he would have lost the army and the capital." — Ibid., vol. xxiv. part iii. p. 498.

hearty co-operation which the occasion demanded. On the other hand, it is difficult, if not impossible, to traverse his argument that Lee should have put some officer in charge of the movement who had confidence in the plan of attack, or, as so much depended on it, that the commander himself should have given to the operations of the third day his personal attention.1 The champions of Lee maintain that his orders required the charge of Pickett to be made by a more powerful column than was sent across the valley under the murderous fire of the foe, and that Longstreet was at fault for neglecting to supply his remaining two divisions for the attack. Reduced to figures, it means that 23,000 instead of 15,000 should have made the assault.2 They would have had to contend with 70,000 men, strongly intrenched, of whom two corps were fresh, whose generals were prepared and alert. There is no reason for thinking that the result would have been different. The comparison which is frequently made between Lee's attack at Gettysburg on the third day and Burnside's storming of Marye's Heights is a reproach to the generalship of the Confederate commander, and is keenly felt by his friends, who would all regard him infallible. Had it not been for the Gettysburg campaign, the intimations in Southern literature would be more frequent than they are that he is entitled to rank with Napoleon in the class of great commanders. But the likeness in military ability will halt before it is pushed far. Nevertheless, let the comparison of the emotions of Napoleon and Lee after disaster be made, and his countrymen will perceive what reason they have to revere the memory of the American. Thus he wrote, July 9, to Pickett: "No one grieves more than I do at the loss suffered by your noble division in the recent conflict, or honors it more for its bravery and gallantry," 3 At the end of the account, said Napoleon in 1813, what has the Russian campaign cost
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1 Longstreet, From Manassas to Appomattox, p. 388.
2 Ibid., p. 398; Taylor, Four Years with General Lee, p. 107.
3 O. R., vol. xxvii. part iii. p. 987.

me? 800,000 men, and what are the lives of a million to a man like me!1

On the morning of the Fourth of July the people of the North received this word: "The President announces to the country that news from the Army of the Potomac, up to 10 P. M. of the 3d, is such as to cover that army with the highest honor, to promise a great success to the cause of the Union, and to claim the condolence of all for the many gallant fallen, and that for this he especially desires that on this day He whose will, not ours, should ever be done be everywhere remembered and reverenced with profoundest gratitude."2 The rejoicing of the people was not boisterous; it took the character of supreme thankfulness for a great deliverance. The victory of Gettysburg demonstrated that Lee and his army were not invincible, and that the Confederates had lost in playing the card of an invasion of the North. Nothing now remained to them but a policy of stubborn defence. That this would likewise end in ruin was foreshadowed by the fateful event of the Fourth of July. Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant. Meade's sturdy and victorious resistance to attack was followed by the glorious end of the most brilliant offensive campaign of the war. Had the war been one between two nations, it would now have undoubtedly terminated in a treaty of peace, with conditions imposed largely by the more successful contestant.

The Fourth of July at Gettysburg passed in tranquillity. "Under the cover of the night and heavy rain," 3 Lee began his retreat. Meade followed. The President comprehended the importance and moral effect of the victory better than did his general. He may not have seen the remark of Napoleon in 1809, "In war the moral element and public opinion are half the battle ; " 4 but the fact he knew well. Nevertheless, he wrote Halleck at seven in the evening of July 6 from his

1 Taine, Le Regime Moderne, tome i. p. 115.
2 Lincoln, Complete Works, vol. ii. p. 365.
3 Meade to Halleck, 8.30 A. m. July 5, O. R., vol. xxvii. part i. p. 79. 4 Sloane's Napoleon, vol. iv. p. 28.

country residence at the Soldiers' Home: "I left the telegraph office a good deal dissatisfied. You know I did not like the phrase [Meade's] 'Drive the invaders from our soil.'"1 Mentioning other circumstances, he added: "These things all appear to me to be connected with a purpose to cover Baltimore and Washington, and to get the enemy across the river again without a further collision, and they do not appear connected with a purpose to prevent his crossing and to destroy him. I do fear the former purpose is acted upon and the latter rejected." 2 The next day he sent this word to Halleck: "We have certain information that Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant on the 4th of July. Now, if General Meade can complete his work, so gloriously prosecuted thus far, by the literal or substantial destruction of Lee's army, the rebellion will be over."3 At the same time Halleck telegraphed Meade: "Push forward and fight Lee before he can cross the Potomac." 4 He sent other telegrams, probably on the prompting of the President, urging Meade to attack the enemy,5 but forwarded two despatches inconsistent with the importunity of the others. "Do not be influenced by any despatch from here against your own judgment," he said. "Regard them as suggestions only." Again he wrote: "I think it will be best for you to postpone a general battle" until everything is ready.6 Perhaps all of those telegrams which urged prompt action were the President's.

By July 11 Lee in his retreat had reached the Potomac, his army covering the river from Williamsport to Falling
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1 A paraphrase of the words of Meade in his congratulatory order of July 4. See O. R., vol. xxvii. part iii. p. 519. "This is a dreadful reminiscence of McClellan," he said; "it is the same spirit that moved him to claim a great victory because Pennsylvania and Maryland were safe. Will our generals never get that idea out of their heads? The whole country is our soil." — John Hay's diary, Nicolay and Hay, vol. vii. p. 278.
2 O. R., vol. xxvii. part iii. p. 567.
3 July 7, ibid., part i. p. 83.
4 Ibid.
5 July 8, ibid., pp. 84, 85,
6 Halleck to Meade, July 9, 10, ibid., pp. 88, 89.

Waters. Three days before he had written Davis: "A series of storms . . . has placed the river beyond fording stage, and the present storm will keep it so for at least a week. I shall therefore have to accept battle if the enemy offers it, whether I wish to or not. ... I hope your Excellency will understand that I am not in the least discouraged, or that my faith in the protection of an all-merciful Providence or in the fortitude of this army is at all shaken." The condition of the army "is good, and its confidence unimpaired." 1 July 10 he sent confidentially this word to Stuart: "We must prepare for a vigorous battle, and trust in the mercy of God and the valor of our troops."2 July 12, after he had taken up his very strong position on the Potomac, he wrote Davis: "But for the power the enemy possesses of accumulating troops I should be willing to await his attack, excepting that in our restricted limits the means of obtaining subsistence are becoming precarious. The river has now fallen to four feet, and a bridge, which is being constructed, I hope will be passable by to-morrow." 3

By July 11 Meade in his pursuit had come within striking distance of Lee. Reinforced by some fresh troops, he might have attacked on the 12th or 13th and ought to have done so.4 Defeat could not result in disaster. A success no greater than Antietam would be a help to the cause, and a complete victory was possible that might end the war. While proceeding with great caution, Meade had determined to make an attack July 13; but,5 wavering in mind and weighed down with responsibility, he called, contrary to the best military maxims, a council of war. Five out of seven of his corps
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1 O. R., vol. xxvii. part ii. p. 299.
2 5.30 a. m., ibid., part iii. p. 991.
3 Ibid., part ii. p. 301.
4 I have been led to this judgment by the testimony of Warren, Humphreys, and Hunt (C. W., 1865, vol. i. pp. 379,395, 455), supported by a mass of comment and opinion. Contrariwise, see Meade's testimony, ibid., p. 336; his unofficial letter to Halleck, July 31, O. R., vol. xxvii. part i. p. 108; Hunt, Century War Book, vol. iii. p. 382.
5 Meade to Halleck, July 12, 4.30 p. m., O. R., vol. xxvii. part i. p. 91.

commanders were opposed to the projected attack, which influenced him to delay giving the orders for it. He devoted July 13 to an examination of the enemy's position, strength, and defensive works, and the next day advanced his army for a reconnaissance in force or an assault if conditions justified it, when he ascertained that during the night previous the Confederate army had crossed the Potomac. "The escape of Lee's army without another battle has created great dissatisfaction in the mind of the President," telegraphed Halleck.1 Meade asked to be relieved of the command of the army: his application was refused.2

During the 12th and 13th of July Lincoln was a prey to intense anxiety, and when he got the intelligence, soon after noon of the 14th, that Lee and his army were safely across the river, he could hardly restrain his irritation within bounds. "We had them within our grasp," he declared; "we had only to stretch forth our hands and they were ours, and nothing I could say or do could make the army move." I regret that I did not myself go to the army and personally issue the order for an attack.3 On the spur of the moment he gave vent to his feelings in a letter to Meade which on second thoughts he did not sign or send. Prefacing his censure with "I am sorry now to be the author of the slightest pain to you," he wrote: "You fought and beat the enemy at Gettysburg; and of course, to say the least, his loss was as great as yours. He retreated, and you did not, as it seemed to me, pressingly pursue him; but a flood in the river detained him, till by slow degrees you were again upon him. You had at least twenty thousand veteran troops directly with you, and as many more raw ones within supporting distance, all in addition to those who fought with you at Gettysburg; while it was not possible that he had received a single recruit; and yet you stood and let the flood run down, bridges be built, and the enemy move away at his leisure without attacking him. . . . Again, my
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1 July 14, O. R., vol. xxvii. part i. p. 92.
2 Ibid., p. 93.
3 John Hay's diary, Nicolay and Hay, vol. vil. p. 278.

dear general, I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in Lee's escape. He was within your easy grasp, and to have closed upon him would, in connection with our other late successes, have ended the war. As it is, the war will be prolonged indefinitely. If you could not safely attack Lee last Monday, how can you possibly do so south of the river, when you can take with you very few more than two thirds of the force you then had in hand? It would be unreasonable to expect, and I do not expect [that] you can now effect much. Your golden opportunity is gone, and I am distressed immeasurably because of it." 1

The disappointment of Lincoln was profound and enduring. Somewhat later he said: "Our army held the war in the hollow of their hand and they would not close it. We had gone through all the labor of tilling and planting an enormous crop, and when it was ripe we did not harvest it. Still I am very grateful to Meade for the great service he did at Gettysburg." 2

Nothing can so fitly close my account of the battle of Gettysburg as the reproduction of Lincoln's two-minute address at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, November 19, 1863: "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow — this ground. The brave
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1 Nicolay and Hay, vol. vii. p. 280.
2 John Hay's diary, Nicolay and Hay, vol. vil. p. 278.

men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to. add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."1
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1 Lincoln, Complete Works, vol. ii. p. 439. In chap. vii. vol. viii. Nicolay and Hay have given a very interesting account of this address ; see, also, the Nation, November 28, 1895, p. 387.
My authorities for the campaign of Gettysburg are the correspondence and orders in O. R., vol. xxvii. parts i., ii., and iii.; reports of Halleck, Hooker, Meade, Ingalls, Hunt, Doubleday, Hancock, Gibbon, Webb, Hays, Humphreys, Sedgwick, Howard, Schurz, Slocum, part i.; reports of Couch and W. F. Smith, part ii. ; reports of Lee, Longstreet, Ewell, A. P. Hill, part ii. ; testimony of Butterfield, Doubleday, Hancock, Humphreys, Hunt, Meade, Sedgwick, Sickles, Wadsworth, Warren, Williams, C. W., 1865, vol. i.; articles of Longstreet, Hunt, Halstead, Gibbon, Law, Allan, Alexander, Francis A. Walker, Century War Book, vol. iii.; Life of Lee, Long ; do. by Fitzhugh Lee; do. by Cooke ; do. by White ; Taylor, Four Years with General Lee; Longstreet, From Manassas to Appomattox; Nicolay and Hay, vol. vii. ; Lincoln, Complete Works, vol. ii. ; Walker, History of the Second Army Corps ; Walker's Hancock; Doubleday, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg; Davis, Confederate Government, vol. ii.; Schuckers's Chase; Life of Seward, vol. iii.; Swinton, Army of the Potomac; do. Decisive Battles ; General Wolseley in the North American Review for September and October 1889 ; the files from May 11 to July 6 of the New York Tribune, Times, World, Herald, Evening Post; Boston Courier, Advertiser; Chicago Tribune; Phila. Inquirer; Washington National Intelligencer; Columbus Crisis.


Source: Rhodes, James Ford. History of the United States; from the compromise of 1850 to the final restoration of home rule at the south in 1877, v.4. New York: Macmillan, 1910 [c1892].