314

RE-CROSSING OF THE RIGHT WING.

side. The Thirty-third crossed the bridge about 8 o'clock, A. M.

The next morning the rebels commenced shelling the troops from the west bank, which caused them to draw back immediately from the river. Brooks' and Newton's Divisions moved a few miles to the northward, Howe's remaining in the vicinity. During the following night the main army re-crossed above, under cover of a fierce storm. Wednesday and Thursday were spent in getting back to Falmouth. Howe's Division returned to White-Oak Church during Friday, now for the third time.

The Thirty-third encamped in a field about threequarters of a mile from its former position. It was a sad sight, those thin and decimated ranks; of five hundred and fifty brave men, who two weeks before marched out to meet the enemy, less than three hundred now returned.

GEN. STONEMAN'S EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL. 315

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Gen. Stoneman's Expedition Successful.-Reasons for the Campaign proving a Failure.-Death of Jackson.-His Character.Gen. Neill's Report.

GEN. STONEMAN fully accomplished the object of his expedition by destroying the railroad bridge, but owing to the defeat of the army, no material advantage resulted from his labors.

So terminated the second bloody campaign of the Rappahannock. The reader who has followed us through the various operations, will readily fix upon two main circumstances, as contributing to our defeat-the breaking of the Eleventh Corps at Chancellorsville, and the failure to take possession of the upper range of hills at the left of Fredericksburg. Gen. Hooker had succeeded admirably in getting the main portion of the army in the rear of the enemy. He had chosen a good position, and skilfully posted his troops. All was going well until the giving away of the Eleventh Corps let Jackson, with forty thousand men, upon his right flank. He was thenceforward compelled to act upon the defensive. Sedgwick was now brought forward upon the board, and assigned the duty of restoring, at least, equilibrium to the contest, by a bold, fearless move. If unsuccessful, the entire army must rapidly retreat

316

CAUSES OF OUR DEFEAT.

across the Rappahannock. If successful, the fortunes of the campaign would be retrieved, and Lee ground to atoms between the upper and nether millstone, or forced to "ingloriously fly" towards Richmond. The Heights were victoriously stormed, and all was well with Sedgwick. But now comes the terrible blunder which decides the contest, the neglect to occupy the upper ridge.

If, says Victor Hugo, Bulow, Blucher's Lieutenant, had debouched from the forest above Freschemont, instead of pursuing the route he did, the form of the nineteenth century would have been different. If Sedgwick had debouched from the Heights above Fredericksburg to the ridge at the left, instead of pushing on towards Chancellorsville, the enemy would have been hemmed in, and the bloody battle of Gettysburg never have been fought; or if a single battery of heavy guns had been left to command the road leading down from the ridge and the ravine through which the flanking force had to pass, in order to reach Marye's Heights, the tables would not have been turned, and Sedgwick instead of Lee compelled to fight one way and face another.

Our losses during the seven days' campaign were not far from sixteen thousand, or four thousand more than those incurred in the December struggle. Of this number, more than five thousand came from the Sixth Army Corps.

The casualties of the enemy amounted to not far from twelve thousand. In the death of Jackson they suffered an irreparable loss. Better, said one of the

LOSSES-DEATH OF JACKSON.

317

Richmond papers soon afterwards, that a whole Army Corps should have gone down than the brave Stonewall. The true circumstances of his death have never been published. On Saturday evening he proceeded out on the turnpike leading from Chancellorsville, to examine his lines. Instead of riding alone, as was frequently his habit on such occasions, he was accompanied by most of his staff and several orderlies. A squad of the First North Carolina Regiment had, in the meantime, been posted across the road by a Division General, to intercept a body of our cavalry, which he learned was on a reconnoissance. Mistaking Jackson and his aids in the dark for the Union troopers, they all fired as he drew near, killing the aids, wounding two orderlies and sending one bullet through Jackson's right hand, and another through his left arm. He died six days afterwards, from the effects of these wounds.

The various statements which have appeared from time to time concerning his piety have not been exaggerated. He was a decidedly spiritual rebel. While located at Harper's Ferry and Winchester, during the earlier months of the war, he led the Union Prayer Meetings, and those of the Presbyterian Church, of which he was a Deacon.

There is not wanting evidence to prove that he held, at the outset, serious doubts as to the justice of the insurrection or rebellion. Some of the readers may re-call the following incident, given to the public last August. It was related to us by a clergyman, who received it from the lips of the divine referred to.

318

STONEWALL'S PIETY.

Dr. J-, a prominent Presbyterian divine of New York, who was closely related to Stonewall, being in Central Virginia just prior to his rapid march on Banks, spent the night with him and attempted to convince him of his error in regard to the States-rights doctrine. At the General's request they devoted some two hours to prayer, Jackson praying long and earnestly. When they rose from their knees his eyes were suffused with tears, and in a repentant voice he remarked: "Whatever Virginia decides to do, I will do. If to return to the Union, I will fight for the Union." Not a week elapsed before Dr. J heard of his relative thundering up through the Shenandoah in hot pursuit of Banks. The States-rights heresy has compassed the ruin of many gifted and brave men.

The following is General Neill's report of the part borne by his Brigade in the campaign.

HEADQUARTERS THIRD BRIGADE,

NEAR FREDERICKSBURG, VA.,
May 7th, 1863.

I have the honor to report, for the information of the General Commanding the Division, that on the night of May 2nd, 1863, in obedience to orders, I led my Brigade across the pontoon bridge at Mansfield on the Rappahannock, about three-fourths of a mile below Fredericksburg, posting two Regiments, the Thirty-third and Forty-ninth New York, as pickets, in front of the enemy. At 12 o'clock, midnight, my Brigade was ordered to march along the "Bowling Green" road towards Fredericksburg.