The Two Armies in Virginia

Both armies were now in a perilous position. Hooker resolved to rest on the defensive; but Lee boldly detached the whole of Jackson's command, on the morning of the 2d of May, and sent it under cover of the forestcurtain of The Wilderness to make a secret flank movement and gain the rear of the Nationals. It was observed by the latter. Suddenly, Jackson burst from the woods with twenty-five thousand men, and falling upon Hooker's right, crumbled it, and sent the astounded column in confusion upon the remainder of the line. A desperate battle, in which nearly all the troops on both sides participated, was the consequence. It lasted until late in the evening, when Jackson fell, mortally wounded by a bullet sent by mistake, in the gloom, by one of his own men. Jackson had been engaged in a personal reconnoissance with his staff and an escort; and when returning, in the darkness, to his lines, he and his companions were mistaken by their friends for Union cavalry.

Hooker now made disposition for a renewal of the conflict on the morning of the 3d. He had called Reynolds's corps of more than twenty thousand men from Sedgwick, and these arrived late on Saturday evening (the 2d), swelling his army to sixty thousand. Sedgwick, by Hooker's order, had crossed the Rappahannock, seized Fredericksburg and the Heights, and was pushing on toward Chancellorsville, when he was checked by troops sent by Lee, and compelled to retreat across the river at Bank's Ford, to save his army. This was accomplished on the night of the 4th and 5th of May. In the meantime there had been hard fighting at Chancellorsville. At dawn on Sunday morning, the 3d of May, the dashing General Stuart, leading the column of the slain commander so much loved, shouted, when he saw the Nationals, "Charge, and remember Jackson!" and then fell heavily upon the troops commanded by General Sickles. The conflict was desperate and soon became general; and the National army, after a long struggle, was finally pushed from the field to a strong position on the roads back of Chancellorsville.

Lee's army was now united; that of Hooker was yet divided; and hearing of Sedgwick's critical situation, the latter determined to retreat to the north side of the Rappahannock. The Army of the Potomac passed the river in safety on the night of the 4th, when Lee, unable to follow, resumed his former position on the Heights of Fredericksburg. Both armies had lost heavily-the Nationals over seventeen thousand men including prisoners, and the Confederates about fifteen thousand. Meanwhile Stoneman's cavalry had been raiding on Lee's communications with Richmond, and a part of them, under Colonel Judson Kilpatrick, had swept down within two miles of that city. They destroyed much property, but failed to break up the railway communication between Lee and the Confederate capital. So far the raiding was a failure.

Longstreet, as we have observed, had been sent to confront General Peck in southeastern Virginia. The latter was strongly fortified near Suffolk, where he was besieged by Longstreet early in April, who expected to drive the Nationals from that post, and seizing Norfolk and its vicinity, make a demonstration against Fortress Monroe. He failed; and hearing of the struggle at Chancellorsville, he abandoned the siege and joined Lee with his large detachment.

Lee's army was now strong in material and moral force. Recent successes had greatly inspirited it. It was reorganized into three army corps, commanded respectively by Generals Longstreet, A.P. Hill, and Ewell. These were all able leaders, and each bore the commission of lieutenant-general. And at no time, probably, during the war was the Confederate army more complete in numbers, equipment and discipline, or furnished with more ample materials for carrying on the conflict, than it was at the middle of June, 1863. According to the most careful estimates made from the Confederate official returns, there were then at least five hundred thousand men on the army rolls, and more than three hundred thousand "present and fit for duty." Fully one-half of the white men of the Confederacy, eligible to military duty, were then enrolled for active service, while a large proportion of the other half were in the civil and military service in other capacities. Doubtless at least seven-tenths of the white adults were then in public business; while a large number of slaves, though legally emancipated, were employed in various labors, such as working on fortifications, as teamsters, etc. The following is the form of a voucher held by the Confederate government as the employer of slaves for such purposes. It is copied from the original before me:

" We, the subscribers, acknowledge to have received of John B. Stannard, First Corps of Engineers, the sums set opposite our names respectively, being in full for the services of our slaves on Drewry's Bluff, during the months of March and April, 1863, having signed duplicate receipts.