relieved from duty, and sent to other departments. General Reynolds was retained in command of the First corps; General Couch was assigned to the command of the Second; General Sickles to the Third; General Meade to the Fifth; General Sedgwick to the Sixth; General Howard to the Eleventh; and General Slocum to the Twelfth. The cavalry regiments, that under McClellan had been distributed with the infantry corps, were collected by General Hooker and organized into a powerful corps, commanded by General Stoneman. The whole army, numbering about one hundred and forty thousand men, was ordered into winter quarters, and occupied an area of country full twenty miles long and fifteen wide, lying between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers. The men were supplied with extra rations, both in quantity and quality, a liberal system of furloughing the enlisted men was adopted, and during the winter, a large proportion of the soldiers visited their homes; thousands of citizens, men and women, from all parts of the North, went to the army, carrying with them vegetables, fruits, and dainties, and vast quantities of reading matter for the soldiers. All these circumstances had a good effect on the army and on the people. At the opening of spring, the morale of the army was higher than it had been at any previous time after its removal from Washington to the Peninsula; the people had great confidence in both officers and men.

At the opening of spring, General Hooker had fully matured his plans for a campaign against Richmond. He ordered General Stoneman to cross the Rappahannock at the fords opposite Warrenton, and to sweep through the country between the rebel army on the line of the Rappahannock and Richmond, to destroy the railroads and the bridges on the wagon roads, so as to completely cut off General Lee's communications with the rebel capital. He then divided his army into two great columns, in order to be ready to cross the river either above or below Fredericksburg, as the movements of the enemy might

make most practicable. The cavalry corps and a brigade of infantry, sent out by General Howard under Colonel Bushbeck, marched to Kelly's ford and Rappahannock station on the 14th of April, but a heavy rain storm setting in, soon made the streams impassable, and the expedition was delayed two weeks. On Monday, the 27th, the cavalry crossed the river and the whole army was put in motion. The Fifth, the Eleventh, and the Twelfth corps, marched from Stafford Court House, and Potomac creek bridge on the Aquia creek railroad, to Kelly's ford, where they crossed the river on Tuesday night, on a pontoon bridge thrown across by General Howard, who was in the advance. The Eleventh and Twelfth corps marched forward to the Rapidan, and crossed that stream at Germania ford; General Meade, with the Fifth corps, crossed the Rapidan at Ely's ford, and on Thursday night, the three corps concentrated at Chancellorsville, opposite United States ford, and about ten miles west of Fredericksburg. Before Friday morning, the Second and Third corps had arrived by way of United States ford; the First corps lay opposite Bank's ford, three miles down the river, and Sedgwick had crossed the Rappahannock below Fredericksburg, and with his powerful corps was threatening that city.

General Hooker formed his line of battle, with the left resting on the Rappahannock, at Scott's dam, the centre at Chancellorsville, and the right wing extending along the plank-road, a mile west of Dowdall's tavern. At two o'clock on Friday, he moved forward on the turnpike and plank road that lead from Chancellorville to Fredericks burg; Meade pushed forward on the left and Slocum in the centre; both soon encountered strong resistance but were gradually advancing, driving the enemy before them. At about four o'clock, however, General Hooker ordered the troops to retire to their position at Chancellorsville. The enemy followed closely, and at sunset made a reconnoissance of the entire line of Hooker's army. Both armies then rested; General Hooker having determined to fight

an offensive battle, his troops awaited the attack. During the forenoon of Saturday, there was desultory skirmishing along the line, but General Lee was rapidly making his disposition for the offensive operations to which he had been invited. The cavalry of the Army of the Potomac had been launched into the enemy's country, and in the rear of his army; in the absence of that corps, Hooker was unable to watch the movements of the enemy. Suddenly, therefore, at about four o'clock on Saturday afternoon, forty thousand rebel troops under General Jackson appeared on the right flank and rear of the National Army, and fell furiously, and in overwhelming numbers, upon the Eleventh Corps, numbering about ten thousand men; the corps was crushed and some of the regiments becoming disorganized fled to the rear. The left wing of the corps, commanded by Colonel Bushbeck of Philadelphia, was thrown across the road in support of the reserve artillery, and by the most determined fighting, checked the advance of the enemy until the materiel of the corps were withdrawn, and reinforcements were sent to its support. A strong line was then formed by the Third, Twelfth and Fifth Corps, which was held during the night. Among the many brave men who fell in this terrific struggle, the most distinguished was Colonel Peissner of the One-hundred and-nineteenth New York regiment. Colonel Elias Peissner was one of the large number of German patriots, who had a few years before, taken refuge in this country from European tyranny; he was an eminent scholar, and an esteemed gentleman. For several years before the war broke out, he filled the professorship of modern languages and political economy in Union College; his zeal in the cause of universal freedom, and republican governments, would not allow him to remain quietly at home in his professional pursuits when the Government, whose protection he had received, demanded his services. In the summer of 1862, he recruited a regiment and marched with it to the field, and here, in this fatal hour, leading for the first time his

regiment to battle, whilst gallantly rallying his men to stand firmly against the vast numbers that were closing in upon them, he fell mortally wounded, a most noble sacrifice on the altar of freedom.

Several times during Saturday night, the furious assaults were made against the line that had resisted Jackson's advance, and at daylight on Sunday morning, the battle opened with great determination along the entire front, but most severely on the left, held by the Third and the Twelfth Corps. General Berry, commanding a division in the Third Corps, fell early in the day, and opposite to him, fell Jackson, the greatest of the Confederate generals. In the evening, General Whipple was killed, by a rebel sharpshooter, while forming his troops in line.

General Hooker finally succeeded in contracting his lines, and placed his army in an intrenched camp with both wings protected by the river; at eleven o'clock, the enemy having possession of the position held by Hooker in the morning, desisted from further attack, and the battle closed.

In the meantime, General Sedgwick had advanced against the enemy at Fredericksburg and had captured the city, but on Monday, while the main army was idle in the intrenchments opposite United States ford, Sedgwick, six miles below, was attacked by Lee's whole army, and was driven across the river at Bank's ford with great loss. On Thursday night, the 5th of May, General Hooker withdrew his army in safety to the north bank of the Rappahannock and marched back to the camps, the troops had occupied during the winter.

The entire loss in all the battles fought in this campaign amounted to about thirteen thousand; the loss of the enemy was reported at eighteen thousand in killed and wounded, and five thousand prisoners.

CHAPTER XI.

INVASION OF PENNSYLVANIA-MEADE'S CAMPAIGNGETTYSBURG-MINE RUN.

Transfer of Reserve Corps to Alexandria—Guarding the raïɔad— Efforts to retire the Reserves-Change of officers; resignations and promotions-Colonel Ent-Colonel S. M. Jackson-General CrawfordLee's march northward-Hooker's march to Frederick-Advance of the Rebel army into Pennsylvania-Destruction of the Columbia bridge -The Reserves åsk to be led against the invaders of their native State -General Meade assumes command of the army-Meade's plansMovements-Position-Advance on Gettysburg- Movements of the enemy-Reynolds' corps at Gettysburg-Beginning of the battleDeath of Reynolds-General Howard falls back to Cemetery hillConcentration of the army-Line of battle-Operations of the second day-Topography of the field-Position of the Third corps-The attack on the left-Charge of the Reserves-Capture of Round-top-The battle on the right-Close of the second day - Preparations for the third day -Desperate fight on Friday morning-The lull-The artillery fire and the charge in the evening-General Meade in the battle-Slaughter of the enemy-The second charge of the Reserves-End of the battleThe casualties-Surgeon Jackson-Colonel Taylor-General Reynolds Retreat of the enemy-The pursuit-Position of the enemy at Falling Water-The council of Generals-The escape of Lee's army-Pursuit into Virginia-End of the campaign-General Meade-Presentation of sword to Meade-Operations on the Rappahannock-The retrograde movement to Centreville-Battle of Bristoe station-Advance to the Rapidan-Battle on the Rappahannock-Mine run campaign-Marches and skirmishes of the Reserves-The withdrawal-Winter quarters.

ON the 6th of February, 1862, Colonel Sickel, who, at that time, commanded the division of Reserves, was ordered to move his troops from their camp near Bell Plain, to Alexandria, and to report to General Heintzelman commanding the defenses of Washington. The First brigade, commanded by Colonel McCandless, embarked on transports on the Potomac river, on the evening of the 6th, and