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boro'. The army, after an arduous march, rendered more difficult by the rains, reached

Hagerstown on the afternoon of the 6th and

morning of the 7th July."

He had had a marvelous escape. When his shattered columns commenced their retreat from Gettysburg, few of his officers can have imagined that they would ever reach Virginia with their artillery and most of their trains. There was not a probability that they could recross the Potomac with more than the wreck of an army. But heavy rains fell, as usual after great battles; and these are apt to impede pursuers more than pursued, though they need not. Then, every sort of miscalculation combined with lack of energy to impede the progress of our army; so that Lee had had four days wherein to strengthen his position at Williamsport before Meade was there" to assail him.

But neither Lee's army nor his troubles were yet over. The heavy rains following the battle had swelled the Potomac to an unfordable state; while Gen. French, who, with 7,000 veterans, had been left idle at Frederick during the great events in Pennsylvania, had, without orders, sent a cavalry force to Falling Waters and Williamsport, which captured the weak guard left by Lee to hold his bridge, which they forthwith destroyed. Lee's hold on the Maryland bank was therefore compulsory, while he collected material and repaired or renewed his bridge. Ere this was accomplished," Meade's army was before him, strengthened by French's division, and by part of Couch's militia, which had reported at Gettysburg and joined the army at Boonsboro'.

" July 12.

The 12th having been spent in getting our troops into position, Gen. Meade called a council of his corps commanders, to consider the expediency of attacking next morning.. The council sat long and debated earnestly. Gens. Howard, Pleasanton, and Wadsworth (in place of Reynolds, killed) urged and voted to attack; but Gens. Sedgwick, Slocum, Sykes, French, and Hays (in place of Hancock, wounded at Gettysburg) opposed it. Gen. Meade, having heard all, stated that his judgment favored an attack-that he came there to fight, and could see no good reason for not fighting. Still, he could not take the responsibility of ordering an assault against the advice of a majority of his corps commanders-four of them ranking officers of the army next to himself. His decision would seem to have been a mistake; but he had been in command little more than a fortnight, and the responsibility of overruling a majority and the seniors among his counselors was a grave one. At all events, he did not take it: so our army stood idle throughout the following day; and in the night Lee withdrew across the Potomac, leaving (he says) but two stalled guns, a few disabled wagons, and some weary stragglers, to fall into the hands of his pursuers.

This, however, is not exactly true. Kilpatrick, commanding our cavalry on the left, learning at 3 A. M. that the enemy's pickets in his front were retiring, started after them, and, at 7 A. M., came up, about two miles from their bridge at Falling Waters, with their rear-guard, under Gen. Pettigrew, who had taken up a strong position and contested thereon his ad"July 13.

MEADE IN VIRGINIA-FIGHT IN MANASSAS GAP. 393

vance. A gallant saber-charge by the 6th Michigan, Maj. Webber, into and over their earthworks, was repulsed with loss-Maj. Webber being among the killed; but, after a fight of over two hours, the enemy was driven to the river, with a loss of 125 killed and 1,500 prisoners, which includes 50 of their wounded. Gen. Pettigrew was here mortally wounded. Our total loss was 105.

Our cavalry advance, Col. J. I. Gregg, crossed the Potomac at Harper's Ferry that day," and moved out, next morning, from Bolivar Heights on the Winchester turnpike to Hall's Mills, thence taking the road to Shepherdstown; where it was soon involved in a spirited fight with Fitz Hugh Lee's cavalry, and driven back a short distance to a strong position, where it held its ground, repulsing several determined charges, until the Rebels were willing to give it up. The day's loss was about 100 on either side; Cols. Drake (1st Virginia) and Gregg were among the Rebel killed; Capt. Fisher, 16th Pa., being the highest officer lost on our side. The ground was so rough and wooded that nearly all the fighting was done on foot.

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being in advance of Lee, who halted for some days near Bunker Hill, and made a feint of rëcrossing the Potomac, Meade was enabled to seize all the passes through the Blue Ridge north of the Rappahannock, barring the enemy's egress from the Shenandoah Valley save by a tedious flank march.

Meade, misled by his scouts, had expected to fight a battle in Manassas Gap-or rather, on the west side of it-where our cavalry, under Buford, found the Rebels in force; when the 3d (French's) corps was sent in haste from Ashby's Gap to Buford's support, and its 1st division, Gen. Hobart Ward, pushed through" the Gap, and the Excelsior (New York) brigade, Gen. F. B. Spinola, made three heroic charges up so many steep and difficult ridges, dislodging and driving the enemy with mutual loss-General Spinola being twice wounded. Col. Farnum and Major McLean, 1st Excelsior, were also wounded, and Capt. Ben. Price killed.

56

Next morning, our soldiers pushed forward to Front Royal, but encountered no enemy. Unknown to us, the Excelsiors had been fighting a brigade of Ewell's men, who were holding the Gap while Rhodes's division, forming the rear-guard of Lee's army, marched past up the valley, and had, of course, followed on its footsteps during the night. No enemy remained to fight; but two days were lost by Meade getting into especially of the National Homestead bill. He volunteered at the very outset of the war, and gave his best efforts and his life for Freedom and Equal Rights to all mankind. Though distinguished by gallantry, capacity, intelligence, and zeal, he entered the service a captain, and died a captain.

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and out of the Gap; during which, Lee moved rapidly southward, passing around our right flank and appearing in our front when our army again looked across the Rappahannock.

So soon as it was known that Lee had started for the North with all the force that he could muster, Gen. Dix, commanding at Fortress Monroe, was directed to make a demonstration on Richmond. Gen. Keyes was appointed to lead it. Starting" from White House, about 5,000 men of all arms, under the more immediate command of Gen. Getty, with at least as many more behind at call, Keyes moved up to Baltimore Crossroads, whence some 1,500 cavalry were sent forward to burn the Central Railroad bridge over the South Anna, which they effected. There was some skirmishing at various points, with the advantage oftener on the side of the enemy; the upshot of all being that Keyes retreated without a serious fight, and without having accomplished any thing worth the cost of the movement. As Richmond was defended by a single brigade under Wise, with such help as might be hastily summoned from points farther south or obtained from her officeholders and other exempts organized as militia, it seems obvious that a more determined leader, who would not have fallen back without knowing why, was badly needed. A spirited, resolute dash might have given us Richmond on the same day that Grant took possession of surrendered Vicksburg and Lee recoiled from Meade's unshaken front at Gettysburg.

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Gen. Kilpatrick next crossed" at Port Conway below Fredericksburg, driving before him a Rebel force stationed on this side, and burning two gunboats recently captured by the Rebels on the Potomac, and run into the Rappahannock for future use.

Gen. Pleasanton next crossed" the Rappahannock at Kelly's and other fords with most of our cavalry, in three divisions, under Buford, Kilpatrick, and Gregg, pressing back Stuart's cavalry to Brandy Station and Culpepper Court House, and thence across the Rapidan, capturing two guns and quite a body of prisoners. ers. Otherwise, the losses on either side were light. Gen. Warren, with the 2d corps, supported our cavalry, but was at no time engaged.

This reconnoissance having proved that Lee had depleted his army to rëenforce Bragg in Tennessee, Gen. Meade crossed" the Rappahannock in force, posting himself at Culpepper Court House, throwing forward two corps to the Rapidan; which he was preparing to cross when he was ordered from Washington to detach" the 11th and 12th corps, under Hooker, to the aid of our army at Chattanooga. Being rëenforced soon afterward, he sent Gen. Buford, with his cavalry division, across the Rapidan 6 Sept. 13. 1 Sept. 16. Sept. 24.

63

62

Oct. 10.

LEE CHASES MEADE UP TO CENTERVILLE.

to uncover the upper fords, preparatory to an advance of the 1st and 6th corps; but Lee at the same time crossing Robertson's river and advancing in force from Madison Court House on our right, Meade fell back" across the Rappahannock; our cavalry, under Pleasanton, covering the retreat, and being engaged from Culpepper Court House to Brandy Station, where Buford rejoined him, and the enemy were held in check till evening, when Pleasanton withdrew across the river.

65

Meade now, presuming the enemy in force at Culpepper Court House, pushed over the 6th, 5th, and 2d corps to Brandy Station, while Buford's cavalry moved in the van to Culpepper Court House; when, on hearing from Gen. Gregg, commanding the cavalry division on our right, that the enemy had driven him back from Hazel run across the Rappahannock, and were crossing at Sulphur Springs and Waterloo in heavy force, Meade hastily drew back his army across the river and retreated" to Catlett's Station and thence" to Centerville; Gregg, with the 4th and 13th Pa. and 1st N. Y. cavalry and 10th N. Y. infantry, being surrounded and attacked" near Jefferson, and routed, with a loss of 500, mainly prisoners.

395

and was hemmed in where his whole command must have been destroyed or captured had he not succeeded in hiding it in a thicket of old-field pines, close by the road whereon our men marched by: the rear of the corps encamping close beside the enemy, utterly unsuspicious of their neighborhood, though every word uttered in our lines as they passed was distinctly heard by the lurking foe. Stuart at first resolved to abandon his guns and attempt to escape with moderate loss, but finally picked three of his men, gave them muskets, made them up so as to look as much as possible like our soldiers, and thus drop silently into our ranks as they passed, march a while, then slip out on the other side of the column, and make all haste to Gen. Lee at Warrenton, in quest of help. During the night, two of our officers, who stepped into the thicket, were quietly captured.

At daylight, the crack of skirmishers' muskets in the distance gave token that Lee had received and responded to the prayer for help; when Stuart promptly opened with grape and canister on the rear of our astounded column, which had bivouacked just in his front, throwing it into such confusion that he easily dashed by and rejoined his chief'; having inflicted some loss and suffered little or none.

Our army was sharply and impudently pursued, especially by Stuart's cavalry, who gathered up quite a number of prisoners, mainly stragglers, of little value unless to exchange. Stuart, with 2,000 of his cavalry, pressed our rear so eagerly that, when near Catlett's Station," he had inadvertently got ahead, by a flank movement, of our 2d corps, Gen. Warren, acting as rear-guard; 64 Oct. 11. 65 Oct. 12. 6 Oct. 13. 67 Oct. 14. 68 Oct. 12. 69

But such ventures can not always prove lucky. That same day," A. P. Hill's corps, which had left Warrenton at 5 A. M., moving up the Alexandria turnpike to Broad Run church, thence obliquing by Greenwich to strike our rear at Bristow Station, had obeyed the order, and fallen in just behind our 3d corps,

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continued up to Fairfax Court House

and would have attempted to retrace his steps directly; but a heavy rain" had rendered Bull Run un

pontoons; meantime, the enemy, after skirmishing along his front and making feints of attack, retreated as rapidly as they had advanced, completely destroying the Orange and Alexandria Railroad from Bristow to the Rappahannock-Stuart, aided by a flank attack from Fitz Hugh Lee, worsting Kilpatrick, by force of numbers, in a not very sanguinary encounter" near Buckland's Mills, whence our cavalry fell back nimbly to Gainesville. In this affair, Custer's brigade did most of the fighting on our side; but the enemy was so vastly the stronger, backed by infantry, that Kilpatrick did well to escape with little loss. Stuart claims to have taken 200 prisoners.

and was eagerly following it, picking up stragglers, and preparing to charge, when, about noon, our 2d corps, Gen. Warren, which was still behind, appeared on the scene, and considera-fordable, and obliged him to send for bly deranged Hill's (or Lee's) calculations. Hill turned, of course, to fight the advancing rather than the retreating foe, having his batteries ready for action; while Warren, who was for the moment surprised at finding an enemy in his front rather than his rear, required ten minutes to prepare for a suitable reply. Soon, however, Brown's and Arnold's batteries opened on our side, with such effect, aided by the fire of Webb's and Hays's divisions of infantry, that the enemy fell back, abandoning six guns, whereof five-all that were serviceable-were at once seized and put to use on our side. An attempt to charge our right flank by Pettigrew's old brigade, now Heth's, was signally repulsed, with a loss of 450 prisoners. After this, the fighting was more cautious and desultory; the enemy recoiling to the woods, and thence keeping up a long-range cannonade, which amounted to nothing. Our loss in killed and wounded was about 200, including Col. James E. Mallon, 42d N. Y., killed, and Gen. Tile, of Pa., wounded; that of the enemy was probably 400, including Gens. Posey (mortally), Kirkland, and Cooke," wounded, and Cols. Ruffin, 1st N. C., and Thompson, 5th N. C. cavalry, killed. Our soldiers held the field till dark, then followed the rest of our army, whose retreat they had so effectually covered.

Meade, on reflection, was evidently ashamed—as well he might be-of this flight—which, the Rebels assert,

Lee rëcrossed the Rappahannock next day; leaving Meade, by reason of his ruined railroad, unable, if willing, to follow him farther for some time.

During these operations, General J. D. Imboden, who, with a Rebel cavalry division, had been guarding the gaps of the Blue Ridge, swooped down" upon Charlestown, near Harper's Ferry, which he took; capturing 424 men, with a large amount of stores. Two hours afterward, a superior Union force appeared from IIarper's Ferry, before which Imboden deliberately fell back, fighting, to Berryville, saving nearly all his spoils; thence making good his escape by a night-march.

Besides Imboden's, Lee claims to have taken 2,000 prisoners during 7 Oct. 16. 13 Oct. 19. 14 Oct. 18.

"Son of Gen. Philip St. George Cooke, Union army.

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