THE GREAT INVASION; OR, General Lee in Pennsylvania. CHAPTER I. THE ARMIES OF THE POTOMAC AND OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA. T is conceded by the highest military authorities that the skill displayed in the Pennsylvania campaign in the year 1863, by both the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia and the general in command of the Army of the Potomac, has never been surpassed in any other campaign in the annals of military history; and it may as truthfully be said that no other great military movement involved consequences so momentous and far-reaching as did that one. With the view, then, to give the reader a clear understanding of this great crisis in the terrible struggle in which not only the destiny of the government was at stake, but the higher and greater problem whether a "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people," was at all practicable, I will place upon record in these pages facts and incidents that occurred during this in vasion, that will greatly aid him, as I believe, in his comprehension of that event. Before proceeding, however, to the narration of these events, it will be necessary to have a correct understanding of the organization and strength of the two armies, the designs and purposes of the invasion, and the relative positions which they occupied when the great movement began. These may be stated thus: I. THE NUMBER OF THE FORCES ON EACH SIDE IN THE PENNSYLVANIA CAMPAIGN. (1.) The Army of the Potomac. There has been a disposition by nearly all historians upon both sides in the great struggle, to magnify the strength of the opposing army, as well as to understate their own. Historical accuracy as well as fairness to both sides requires that the truth only should be told. General Meade, in his testimony before the committee of Congress on the Conduct of the War (page 337), states the strength of his army as "a little under one hundred thousand men-probably ninety-five thousand men." This being reliable is of course decisive, and establishes the number of men in the Army of the Potomac in the Pennsylvania campaign. This army was organized as follows: MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE G. MEADE, Commander-in-Chief.* STAFF. MAJOR-GENERAL DANIEL BUTTERFIELD, Chief of Staff. BRIGADIER-GENERAL M. R. PATRICK, Provost - Marshal-General. *Major-General Joseph Hooker was in command of the Army of the Potomac up to Sunday, June 28th, 1863, and on this day, for causes which will hereafter be stated, resigned that position while on the march to Gettysburg, and was succeeded by Major-General Meade. |