1863.] DEATH OF STONEWALL JACKSON. 351 which had been allowed to come to the front of the lines, were mixed up in the rout, and fled in a mass down the road and toward the river. At last some troops were got into line, and the Confederates, who had fallen into confusion as they charged through the woods, were checked. Though night had fallen, there was a full moon, and Jackson rode to the front to reconnoitre. The moon, partly hidden by fleecy clouds, gave but a dim light, and all around from the gloomy depths of the forest came the mournful song of hundreds of whippoorwills. Jackson rode forward to within nearly two hundred yards of the Union lines, and paused to listen. No sound was heard from them, but there was danger that the batteries might open fire at any moment, and one of his staff officers said: "General, don't you think this is the wrong place for you?" "The danger is over," he replied quickly. "The enemy is routed. Go back and tell A. P. Hill to press right on.' The officer turned and rode back, but he had scarcely got out of sight when a volley of musketry was fired from the Confederate lines behind. It was never known from whom the shots came, but it is supposed that the soldiers took Jackson and his escort for Union cavalry. Many of the staff and escort were killed, and fell from their horses. Jackson and the rest wheeled and galloped into the woods, but another volley was fired, and the General was wounded in three places, two balls passing through his left arm and a third through his right hand. His horse, frightened, ran between two trees, a limb of one of which struck him violently in the face, and threw him back on the horse. One of his officers caught the animal, and Jackson was lifted carefully from the saddle as he was about falling, faint with loss of blood. As the Confederates were advancing again, the Union artillery opened a terrible fire of shell and canister down the road. One of the men who were carrying Jackson from the field was killed by this fire, and the wounded general fell heavily to the ground. After the fire had slackened he was removed to the hospital in the rear, where his left arm was amputated; but he had lost too much blood, and after lingering about a week he died (Sunday, May 10). At one time he was reported to be doing well, and General Lee sent him this playful message: "You are better off than I am; for while you have lost only your left, I have lost my right arm. General Lee meant by this that in being deprived of Jackson's services he had lost what was equal to his right arm. This feeling was shared by everybody in the South, and when Death claimed the great captain for his own it was felt that the Confederacy had received a blow which far out-balanced the victory which he had won for it at Chancellorsville. After Jackson was struck down, Hill renewed the attack, as his chief had ordered, but was himself wounded and driven back by the Union troops, who had succeeded in forming a line of defence. The command of Jackson's forces then fell to General Stuart, the cavalry leader. At daylight the next morning (Sunday, May 3) he led his men to the attack with the battlecry of "Charge, and remember Jackson!" Lee attacked at the same time in front, moving his men so as to get nearer and nearer to Stuart. About half-past nine o'clock their two forces were joined, and they pressed on toward Chancellorsville. The Union army was at this time without a head, for General Hooker had been knocked senseless by a cannon-ball which struck a pillar of the Chancellor house, against which he was leaning. No one seemed to be willing to take the responsibility of command, but each general fought as well as he could. By eleven o'clock the Union lines had been forced back, and the Confederates had won Chancellorsville. A new line of defence had been chosen and fortified the night before, and the Union troops now fell back to this, which was a strong position. Lee was about to attack again when news was brought him that Sedgwick, who it will be remembered was below Fredericksburg, had taken the heights there, beaten Early, and was advancing against Lee's rear with thirty thousand men. This danger had to be met at once. Rightly judging that Hooker would keep on the defensive, he withdrew a large part of his troops from the front and sent them back against Sedgwick, at the same time keeping up a heavy cannonade on the Union lines to deceive Hooker. Sedgwick was met about four o'clock, and after a severe fight his advance was checked. He had lost by this time nearly five thousand men. Monday morning found the armies still opposite each other, Hooker watching Lee from his strong position behind Chancellorsville, and Sedgwick unable to move forward from the place he had reached. About six o'clock in the evening Lee attacked 1863.] BRAVE LIEUTENANT PAINE. 353 Sedgwick with the purpose of cutting him off from the river, but though he gained some advantage, Sedgwick succeeded, during the night, in getting his army across the Rappahannock at Banks's Ford. Having thus rid himself of Sedgwick in his rear, Lee moved once more to attack Hooker, but a heavy rainstorm on Tuesday delayed his artillery. On Wednesday morning he advanced to attack, but his enemy had gone. During the night of Tuesday, Hooker had silently crossed the river, the bridges having been covered with straw and earth to deaden the noise of the artillery and the wagons, and the Confederates were left in possession of the field of Chancellorsville, with all the Union killed and wounded, fourteen pieces of artillery, and nearly twenty thousand stand of small-arms. The Union loss, including prisoners, was more than seventeen thousand men; that of the Confederates about twelve thousand. In the meantime Stoneman had succeeded in making his raid in the rear of Lee's army. Though delayed at first by stormy weather and the rise of the river, he finally succeeded in crossing (April 27), and rode to within a few miles of Richmond, destroying much property, but the expedition was of very little military use, for the Confederates repaired the railroads at once. A very pleasing story connected with Stoneman's raid is that of the capture and release of Lieutenant Paine of the Union cavalry. He had command of the advance, and getting a considerable distance from the main body was captured with all his men by a superior force of Confederate cavalry. The prisoners were hurried away as fast as possible to get them away from Stoneman, who was rapidly advancing, and in crossing a deep stream Lieutenant Henry, the commander of the Confederate force, was swept off his horse. As none of his men seemed willing to try to save him, Lieutenant Paine sprang off his horse, and seizing the drowning man by the collar swam ashore with him, thus saving his life. Lieutenant Paine was taken to Richmond and confined with the rest of the prisoners; but the story of his gallant deed having been made known to General Fitz Hugh Lee, he wrote a statement of it to General Winder, the Provost-Marshal of Richmond, and Lieutenant Paine was at once released and sent to Washington, without even being asked to give his parole. Shortly afterward Lieutenant Henry was captured and taken to Washington, and Lieutenant Paine had then the pleasure of showing him many acts of kindness. CHAPTER XXX. GETTYSBURG. CONFEDERATE HOPES-NAPOLEON AND MEXICO.-ANOTHER INVASION OF THE North.-THE TWO ARMIES.-STUART'S REVIEW.-EWELL SURPRISES MILROY.-THE POTOMAC CROSSED, — PENNSYLVANIA IN A PANIC.--HOOKER FOLLOWS LEE.-MEADE IN COMMAND.-THE EYES OF AN ARMY.-GETTYSBURG.-THE FIRST DAY'S FIGHT.-DEATH OF REYNOLDS.-HANCOCK TO THE FRONT.--THE SECOND DAY'S FIGHT. LITTLE ROUND TOP.-EWELL ON CULP'S HILL -THE THIRD DAY'S FIGHT.-A GRAND BOMBARDMENT.-PICKETT AND HIS VIRGINIANS.-A DREADFUL STRUGGLE.-VICTORY FOR THE UNION.-A TERRIBLE RETREAT.-WASTED AMMUNITION.--OLD JOHN BURNS.-JENNY WADE.-THE NEWS IN RICHMOND.-MEADE FOLLOWS LEE. WINTER QUARTERS. HE Confederates were greatly encouraged by their success at Chancellorsville, notwithstanding the loss of Jackson. They had now beaten the Army of the Potomac in two great battles, and Richmond seemed to be safe for at least another year. In the West too their arms were successful: Vicksburg and Port Hudson still held out against Grant and Banks, Bragg was keeping Rosecrans in check at Chattanooga, and Galveston had been retaken. Good news too came from Europe, where the friends of the Confederacy were in hope of soon securing its recognition as an independent government by England and France. The French army which had invaded Mexico in 1862 was then marching on the capital. The Emperor Napoleon III., believing that the power of the United States would be broken by the civil war, had thought this a good chance to secure many advantages for France. If the great republic could be divided and a strong empire established on the Gulf of Mexico, there might come in time an opportunity for France to recover Louisiana and the valley of the Mississippi, which had been sold by Napoleon I. The Confederate leaders welcomed this invasion of a sister republic, for they hoped it would insure their independence, and they were ready to offer the Emperor almost anything to secure his friendship and aid. Napoleon tried in vain to get Great Britain to join him in an offer to mediate-that is, to try to bring about a settlement-between the North and the South. The government of Great Britain refused, rather from caution than from any love for the United States. to act with him, and in the beginning of 1863 (January 1863.] SECOND INVASION OF THE NORTII. 355 9) Napoleon offered alone to mediate between the parties, but the United States government declined and refused to permit any foreign interference in the quarrel. While the Confederate hopes were thus raised, the people of the free States were much troubled in mind and very anxious about the result of the war, the end of which seemed to be further off than ever. A large party had grown up in the North who were for peace at any price, even at the cost of losing the Southern States; and they had many sympathizers in the army, a large part of which had been opposed to the Emancipation Proclamation. The Confederate leaders, believing that this feeling was stronger than it really was, and hoping to get some aid from those who thus differed from the Union government about the way the war should be carried on, determined to cross the Potomac and to invade the North once more. the Union army could be defeated in a great battle in Maryland or Pennsylvania, so strong a feeling might be stirred up in the North for peace and in Europe in favor of the victorious Confederacy that independence might be won. If As soon as this movement was decided upon, active preparations were made for the campaign. The army was reorganized and divided into three corps. General Longstreet was recalled from North Carolina, where he had been acting since the beginning of the year, and given command of the first corps, while General Ewell was given the second and A. P. Hill the third corps. Lee's entire force numbered about seventy thousand men, all of whom had been hardened to military life and whose experience in their conflicts with the Union army had taught them to believe that they could not be conquered. Hooker's force, on the contrary, had been so much reduced by the ending of the time of service of many of the volunteers, that it numbered scarcely more than that of the Confederates; and it had met with so many reverses and had had so many changes of commanders that the men had lost confidence both in themselves and in their generals. Early in June, Lee sent the corps of Longstreet and Ewell to Culpepper Court-House, leaving that of Hill behind the works at Fredericksburg. Hooker was deceived by this, but in a few days he found out that the enemy was moving. Lee's cavalry, under Stuart, had a grand review in the plain east of Culpepper, |