hinder, Hooker, that same day, would have experienced an overwhelming defeat. Thus, in the space of four days, Lee had rapidly taken the offensive, had first stopped, then attacked, and finally repulsed with immense loss, an army three times his own. On the last day of April, a hostile mass of 120,000 men held him surrounded; on the 3rd of May, the chief corps of the enemy was retreating in the greatest disorder, and on the morning of the 6th, not a Federal soldier, prisoners excepted, was to be found south of the Rappahannock.

In the midst of these critical scenes, when the stake played for was not only the Confederate capital, but also the very cause of the South, Lee remained unalterably calm. Without descending to the clamorous and jeering brags of Hooker, as testified in the orders of the day, and in conversations held with his officers by this latter, Lee, by a kind of instinctive reaction, had become almost merry. When one of Jackson's aides-de-camp came in great haste to Fredericksburg to tell him that the enemy was passing the river with imposing forces, the Confederate commander said with a sly smile: "Well, I heard firing, and I was beginning to think it was time some of you lazy young fellows were coming to tell me what it was all about. Say to General Jackson that he knows just as well what to do with the enemy as I do."

The most important incident of the battle of Chancellorsville, was the mortal wound which Stonewall Jackson there received. This illustrious lieutenant of Lee had become his right hand, and Lee felt his loss cruelly. Since the opening of hostilities, no name had won so much upon public favour as that of Jackson. In the short space of two years the brilliant

manner in which he executed the missions with which he was charged, and the continual triumphs which he gained, rendered his name, previously utterly unknown, famous. He came out of an early struggle, difficult and unequal, in the Valley of Virginia, a conqueror, although he had to do with forces very superior to his own. These victories, at a time so critical, and on

a frontier so important, contributed not a little to electrify the inhabitants of Richmond, and, indeed, of all the Confederacy. He then took a very important part in the Seven Days' Battle against MacClellan, in 1862, on the Chickahominy. Sent towards the North, he defeated Pope's van at Cedar Mountain, commanded Lee's left wing in the turning movement against Pope's flank, destroyed Manassas, maintained himself till the arrival of his chief, and largely contributed to the victory which followed. Hence he crossed into Maryland, marched on Harper's Ferry, and mastered it; he was by Lee's side in the battle of Sharpsburg, and there kept his ground without stumbling before the rude assaults of the enemy. If this contest remained indecisive, instead of being a defeat for the South, the merit is chiefly due to Lee as general and Jackson as soldier. When the Confederates retired, Jackson remained in the Valley to embarrass MacClellan. In this, he perfectly succeeded, then suddenly re-appeared at Fredericksburg, where he received and repulsed one of the two great Federal attacks. In the following spring was fought the sanguinary battle of Chancellorsville, the last battle of the heroic Jackson. With this glorious conflict finished the career of him who had become Lee's alter ego.

It is not difficult to estimate what the general-in-chief felt on losing a man who was at once the soldier on whom he most relied, and the friend he most dearly cherished. The connection between Lee and Jackson had, from the first, been most cordial. Never had a shadow arisen to disturb the reciprocal feelings of affection and admiration which they had for one another. Never had they asked of each other what place they occupied in the public esteem, which of the two had the greatest share in the respect and love of their fellow-citizens. On the contrary, it was impossible to please Lee better than by setting forth the splendour of Jackson's services. He was, under all circumstances, the first to acknowledge publicly how much was owing to his illustrious lieutenant, to express in high terms all the admiration which he felt for his military talents,

and to attribute to him, as, in fact, he wrote after the battle. of Chancellorsville, all the merit of the victory.

The spectacle of two soldiers loving and admiring each other, without any mental reservation, without a shadow ruffling their self-respect, is a beautiful one. As for Jackson, his love for his chief was more profound; it contained as much of veneration as of admiration. To give birth to such feelings in such a man, Lee must not only have been a military genius of the highest rank, but also a man endued with great moral qualities and great piety. Jackson's opinion never varied, and his confidence and attachment remained unshaken to the end. He invariably defended his chief against criticism. Some one, one day, reproached Lee with being slow. Jackson, who was present, habitually very silent, this time could not restrain himself: "General Lee," exclaimed he, "is not slow. No one knows the weight upon his heart-his great responsibilities. He is commander-in-chief, and he knows that if an army is lost, it cannot be replaced. No there may be some persons whose good opinion of me may make them attach some weight to my views, and, if you ever hear that said of General Lee, I beg you will contradict it in I have known General Lee for five-and-twenty years. my name. He is cautious; he ought to be. But he is not slow. Lee is a phenomenon. He is the only man whom I would follow blindfolded!"

Such an encomium, from such a man, speaks for itself. Time only increased these sentiments with Jackson. He submitted his whole will to his chief. The least word of Lee was sacred to his lieutenant; all he did could not be otherwise than right. Only once was he of a different opinion, when, after his wound and victory at Chancellorsville, he received from Lee that little word of congratulation: "General Lee," said he, "is very kind; but he should give the glory to God !"

Lee returned this affection fully; he consulted Jackson always, and regarded him as his bosom friend. Rarely was there a question

between them as to the relations of superior to subordinate, except when, in his quality of commander-in-chief, Lee had to come to a decision. In details, he depended entirely on Jackson, certain that he would always act for the best.

Lee's affection showed itself in a striking manner after Chancellorsville. Jackson, seriously wounded, was at an inn in the Wilderness. Lee, retained on the battle-field by the critical state of the situation, rendered still more so by Jackson's absence, could not steal away for a moment to press the invalid's hand. Not looking upon the wound as dangerous, and, indeed, it did not become so till the last moment, he unceasingly sent for news of him, and forwarded these words of friendship: "Give him my affectionate regards," said he to one of his aides-de-camp: "tell him to make haste and get well, and come back to me as soon as He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right.” When, shortly after, the symptoms grew worse, and it began to be whispered that the end would be fatal, Lee was deeply moved, and exclaimed: "Surely General Jackson must recover! God will not take him from us, now that we need him so much. Surely he will be spared to us, in answer to the many prayers which are offered for him!"

he can.

He became silent for a moment, an evident prey to violent and sorrowful emotion. Then, addressing an officer whom he was sending to the wounded general, he said: "When you return, I trust you will find him better. When a suitable occasion offers, give him my love, and tell him that I wrestled in prayer for him last night, as I never prayed, I believe, for myself."

The grief which Lee felt at Jackson's death was too profound for God alone knows what that order of the day cost him, in which he imparted the tidings of this loss to the army!

tears.

CHAPTER XII.

LEE'S SECOND ENTRY INTO MARYLAND.-MOVEMENTS LEADING TO THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.

THE defeat of General Hooker at Chancellorsville marks one of the decisive moments of the Civil War. For the first time it appeared to be perhaps possible that the Washington Government would come to the conclusion to recognise the independence of the South. Although hitherto the Federal authorities had regarded as utterly inadmissible the creation of a distinct Confederation in the South, the two defeats which the Northern troops had just experienced on the Rappahannock, had given rise to many serious doubts with many Unionists of the possibility of repressing the Confederates by force. Besides, the proclamations in which President Lincoln declared the slaves in the South free, and in reality put the United States in a state of siege, exasperated the democratic party, who complained bitterly that all constitutional liberties were disappearing.

Hence came a violent reaction in opinion: from all sides protestations arrived against a continuation of the war. Many journals in New York and elsewhere declared themselves against the politics of the Government. A convention of the friends of peace met at Philadelphia to deliberate on the measures to be employed in the realization of their wishes. Judge Curtis, of Boston, formerly one of the associate-judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, vehemently inveighed against the violation,