After the battle of Kellysville, which for hard and obstinate fighting has scarcely been excelled, the Federal forces remained quiet until April. Toward the middle of that month every thing indicated an early advance. It was known that General Hooker had been making extraordinary exertions to increase the strength of his army, and to place every department of the command upon a thorough "war footing." These labors were said to have secured the desired result; and, in the month of April, the Northern journals repeatedly and confidently asserted General Hooker's ability to overwhelm General Lee whenever he advanced.

This confidence seems to have been shared by General Hooker and the majority of his officers. Whether deceived by spies, who communicated false intelligence, or misled by his own anticipations, which made "the wish the father to the thought," the Federal commander exhibited, in many ways, a perfect confidence in his ability to defeat Lee, and looked forward to the battle about to take place as destined to terminate the war.

The advance of the Federal forces was preceded as usual by movements of cavalry. The enemy had largely increased their force in this branch, and paid great attention to its armament and equipment. The North had been ransacked for horses; the best patterns of carbines and pistols were furnished in profusion; and great attention was given to the organization of the force, the character of its officers, and its efficiency in every particular. The commanders were given to understand that much was expected of them; and General Pleasanton, to whose command the whole was entrusted, seemed anxious to recover the laurels which Averill had lost in his encounter with Fitz Lee.

During the month of April, persistent attempts were made by Pleasanton to penetrate into the county of Culpepper, and beat up General Stuart's quarters there; his expectation being to gain information, and unmask General Lee's position.

These attempts, however, were unsuccessful. The Confederate cavalry under Stuart confronted the enemy at every point,

from United States ford below the confluence of the rivers to the upper waters; whenever the Federal cavalry crossed they were forced to retire with loss, and up to the moment when General Hooker's army was put in motion, the enemy's great cavalry force had been useless in gaining for the commanding general information of General Lee's position, movements, or designs.

We have spoken of Lee's position in general terms. The main body confronted the enemy's camps near Fredericksburg, and occupied the woods in rear of the old battle field. A force was posted opposite Ely's and United States fords higher up the river, and the various fords from United States to Hinson's, far up the Rappahannock, continued to be picketed by Stuart's cavalry, which, under the supervision of that energetic commander, left no avenue of advance unguarded. The exposed left flank was rightly regarded as the direction from which the Federal forces would attack, with the view of turning General Lee's position and forcing him to fall back. Extreme vigilance was accordingly enjoined upon the cavalry pickets; and no sooner had the Federal column put itself in motion on the upper waters than General Stuart telegraphed the fact to General Lee.

It would seem that General Hooker decided to advance upon receiving information that the "only army to oppose him was one of 40,000 under Jackson, Lee being sick and his army scattered." The presence of General Longstreet, with the greater part of his corps in front of Suffolk, south of James River, was well known to the Federal commander; and he rightly decided that if it was possible for him at all to defeat Lee's army, it was possible now.

General Hooker's plan is said to have been as follows:

A force of about 20,000 men was to cross the Rappahannock near the old battle field of Fredericksburg, and thus produce upon the Confederate commander the impression that General Hooker was about to renew the attempt in which General Burnside had failed. Whilst General Lee's attention was engaged by the demonstration at this point, the main body of the Federal army was to cross the Rappahannock by the upper fords,

and sweeping down with rapidity upon General Lee's left flank, take a strong position not far from Fredericksburg. The column which had crossed below was then to recross the river, move rapidly up the northern bank to the fords which the movement of the main body would have uncovered; and, a second time crossing to the southern bank, unite with the other. Thus the whole force of General Hooker would be concentrated on the south side of the Rappahannock, and General Lee would be compelled to leave his strong position on the Massaponnax hills and fight upon ground chosen by his adversary, or fall back rapidly to prevent that adversary from attaining his rear and destroying him.

In order to insure the event of the conflict which it was auticipated General Lee would determine upon before falling back, measures were taken to interrupt his communications so as to cut off his supplies and prevent General Longstreet from coming to his assistance. An extensive cavalry raid against the Central Railroad was accordingly made a part of the programme; and this, it was expected, would render General Lee's defeat perfectly certain.

Such was the apparently skilful but really bungling strategy by which General Hooker attempted to outgeneral his able adversary. Formidable as his scheme appeared, it yet had a fatal flaw. The Federal commander was dividing his forces in presence of an opponent with whose ability he was thoroughly acquainted; and was exposing himself to the sudden and fatal blow which was so soon to fall. The movement of his cavalry, from which he expected so much, was the most fatal error of all. By thus detaching nearly his whole mounted force from the main army, General Hooker exposed himself to the great flank attack from Jackson-which the presence of his cavalry would have unmasked-and insured the defeat of his army.

The Federal commander seems scarcely to have doubted, however, his ability to defeat General Lee, and appears to have cherished the conviction that if he could once mass his forces on the southern bank of the Rappahannock, the event was certain.

When this object was afterwards attained, General Hooker issued an order of congratulation to his troops, in which he declared that he occupied a position so strong that "the enemy must either ingloriously fly or come out from behind his defences, and give us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction waits him."

CHAPTER XXXIV.

GENERAL HOOKER ADVANCES.

GENERAL HOOKER's preparations were at last complete, and on Monday, the 27th day of April, the troops were put in motion.

The 5th, 11th, and 12th Corps of the Federal army, under General Slocum, moved with eight days' rations toward Kelly's ford, near the point where the Orange and Alexandria Railroad crosses the Rappahannock, and by Tuesday night were in position and ready to cross on the ensuing day. On Tuesday night also, the 1st, 3d, and 6th Corps were opposite Franklin's crossing, three miles below Fredericksburg, ready to cross on pontoons simultaneously with the force above.

Both columns were on Wednesday, April 29th, thrown across the Rappahannock at the points mentioned, and established themselves, without resistance, upon the southern bank of the river. At the same time the great cavalry expedition under General Stoneman began also to move, its route being through the county of Culpepper, in the direction of Gordonsville.

General Hooker was in personal command of the main body, which crossed at Kelly's ford, and now steadily moved toward the Rapidan.

As soon as the designs of the enemy were developed in the directions of Kelly's ford, General Stuart concentrated his cavalry in front of that point, and observed their further movements,

communicating full information of their force and the direction of their march to General Lee. As the Federal column advanced, he hung upon its front and flank, and by a successful attack at Madden's, below Brandy, threw the enemy into disorder, and ascertained from prisoners captured that the column consisted of the corps of Howard, Slocum, and Meade. The men had eight days' rations in their haversacks, and supply trains moved with the force, from which it was apparent that General Hooker designed a real advance to offer battle to the Southern army.

Every exertion was now made by Stuart to harass them and impede their progress. Discovering speedily that they were moving toward Ely's and Germanna fords on the Rapidan, he hastened with General Fitz Lee's brigade around by Raccoon ford above, to gain the front of their column, and interpose himself between them and Fredericksburg. General W. H. F. Lee's brigade, which constituted the rest of the command, was detached to guard the upper förds of the Rapidan, and oppose Stoneman's heavy column of cavalry, which was then advancing in the direction of Gordonsville.

The great events occurring in another portion of the field will prevent us from returning to the subject of this extensive raid. We shall, therefore, speak briefly of it here. The Federal cavalry rapidly advanced and attacked General W. H. F. Lee upon the Rapidan, but were delayed there for a considerable time by that able commander. When he fell back in accordance with orders from General R. E. Lee, General Stoneman hastened across, penetrated the country to the Central Railroad, which he tore up for a short distance near Trevillian's; passed on to James River, ravaging the country and carrying off horses; attempted to destroy the Columbia aqueduct, but failed; returned; retreated, destroying the bridges on the South Anna behind him; and hurried back across the Rapidan. During all this time the horsemen of Lee had harassed him at every step; cut off detached portions of his command; captured many officers and men; and greatly demoralized his men. With an adequate