south. Sedgwick, with the Sixth Corps, was expected to come into line on Warren's right, and extend to the river, covering all approaches to the ford, but was long delayed in doing so. Hancock, who had been directed upon Spottsylvania, was deflected, and hurried forward by the Brock road, to take post on the left, across the plankroad from Orange Courthouse, and thus to complete the line. There was a frequent shifting of divisions, but the general positions of the corps remained nearly the same.

Burnside, who had just reached Culpepper before the movement, had been directed to remain twenty-four hours there, and then to move forward and join the main body. The Ninth Corps was designed to form the reserves.

It was now plain that the enemy was moving by the turnpike and plankroad from Orange Courthouse, to cut us off from the intersection, and that the battle must be fought in the Wilderness. Lee was playing an offensive-defensive in a country with which he was well acquainted, and where a small force could forbid the advance of a very large army. He was moving, as we have seen, in two parallel columns upon the flank of our line. Grant was entirely on the offensive, and had a far more difficult task. His artillery was paralyzed; and it may be stated as a curious fact, that although there were nearly three hundred guns on the field, only about twenty were used. Much of the cavalry also fought dismounted.

THE REBELS COME UP IN COLUMN.

Let us now turn to the Confederate army. It consisted of three corps: the first, commanded by A. P. Hill, formerly an officer of artillery in our army, a brave and determined general; the second, by R. S. Ewell, an equally good officer, who was a captain of cavalry before the war; the third, by Longstreet, whom we have already mentioned as a determined and rapid fighter. General Lee, "the idol of the Confederacy," commanded in person. No sooner had he an intimation of our crossing, than he moved Ewell up by the turnpike, and on

the night of the 4th his advance division, under Johnson, encamped in front of Warren's left, at Parker's store, on the plankroad, three miles from Wilderness Run. Rhodes' division followed by the same route, and Early's took post within supporting distance, near Locust Grove,—all in readiness for the battle which it was evident to every commander, in both armies, must be fought on Friday.

Before day of the 5th, Johnson's division gained a hill in their front, forming in line of battle, with John M. Jones' brigade on the right, Stafford in the centre, and Stuart on the left. Walker was in potence on the extreme left.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS.

ORDERS TO WARREN AND SEDGWICK.-THE BATTLE-FIELD.-HANCOCK TO THE RESOUB -GENERAL ATTACK ON THE 6TH.-HANCOCK'S ENCOUNTER.-SECOND REBEL AS SAULT. GORDON FLANKS OUR RIGHT.-GRANT ON THE FIELD.-COMMENTS.-LOSSES -DRAWN BATTLE.

ORDERS TO WARREN AND SEDGWICK.

EARLY on the morning of the 5th, the head of Warren's (Fifth) corps being near Parker's store, on the Orange and Fredericksburg plankroad, information was received that the enemy was coming up in force on the Orange turnpike. Orders were immediately sent to Warren to halt, concentrate his corps on the pike, and attack furiously whatever he should find in his front. The orders were explicit, and the manoeuvres rapid. The Sixth Corps was directed to move at once by any wood-roads they might find, and support Warren, by taking position on his right, and joining in the attack: but Getty's division, of the Sixth, was detached, and hurried to the intersection of the Orange plankroad and the Brock road, with orders to hold it to the last, until Hancock, who had now been deflected from Chancellorsville, should come up into line on the left.

THE BATTLE-FIELD.

The battle-field in front of Warren, seen from the old tavern, may be thus described: In front is a brook, flowing

northeasterly, like the Fontanone, at Alexandria, fought over so furiously by the First Consul, and Melas, in the battle of Marengo. A bridge spans it at the turnpike; then the road rises to a ridge. On the southern slope is Major Lucy's house, in the midst of a lawn and green meadows; beyond which are wooded hills and cedar thickets. On the right of the turnpike the pines and cedars are thickly set: a ravine runs through still further to the right, on either side of which are the lines of Warren and Ewell. An Indian battle-ground truly, of broken, irregular surface, and almost impenetrable undergrowths; and yet here nearly a quarter of a million of civilized troops were to meet in the shock of battle.

The fighting began at twelve o'clock of the 5th. Warren had come into position, and attacked as directed, with the divisions of Griffin and Wadsworth. So energetic was the attack, that Ewell was driven back for some distance on the pike. Every thing would have been well, had it not been for want of the expected supports. Want of roads, and the extreme denseness of the thicket, had prevented the Sixth Corps from coming up in time, and thus completing the programme. Thus the very ardor of our attack exposed the flank of Griffin. The enemy, quick to take advantage of this, rolled him back, with a loss of two guns. Wadsworth, in turn, after desperate fighting, was forced back. In the mean time, Crawford's division, which had the advance in the morning, had been withdrawn to the right towards the pike, formed on the left of Wadsworth, and attacked with him. When Wadsworth was driven back, Crawford, in his turn, was for a time isolated, and although extricated, it was not without the loss of many of his men as prisoners.

Ewell's corps made desperate efforts against Warren to turn his left flank, before Hancock could come up. Getty, rapid and valiant, came into position as ordered, on the Orange plank road, just in time to find our cavalry forced back by the overwhelming numbers of A. P. Hill's advance. With cool sagacity, Getty deploys his command on both sides of the road, takes the head of the advancing enemy in a cul-de

sac, pours in a deadly volley, and checks them there until Hancock can come up.

The fighting was desperate and frightful; men were shot down by unseen enemies, and the confusion seemed inextricable. Johnson's division was precipitated upon Warren. Jones' brigade was driven back, and Jones and his aid killed in their efforts to rally his men. Stuart comes into the gap made by the retreat of Jones' brigade, and in turn our men are driven back; Rhodes' division comes up in rear of Johnson, with the brigades of Daniel and Gordon; and so vigorous is their movement, that they push our centre back and capture a number of prisoners. Such was the fighting in front of the Fifth Corps, and Getty's division of the Sixth. Warren lost terribly, but was not driven back far.

The Sixth Corps also sustained some attacks while coming into position. It was not until towards evening that it succeeded in making its way through the tangled thicket, and in forming a connection with the Fifth. But little was effected by either of these corps after the first attack of the Fifth. The red tide of battle swayed back and forward on the right, left, and centre, without important success on either side. On the whole, up to this time, the advantage seemed to be with the enemy; but it was not long to remain so.

HANCOCK TO THE RESCUE.

It was now two o'clock. The orders deflecting Hancock from Chancellorsville had not been sent a moment too soon. They were obeyed with such alacrity, that his arrival on the field was not a moment too late. He was directed to form at once, and attack with Getty.

In the early afternoon, Hancock, ever ready in the hour of danger, formed his line in front of the intersection of the Chancellorsville and Brock road, and was soon engaged with Hill's corps, which had come up by the plankroad on the right of Ewell. Hill's corps consisted of the divisions of Anderson, Heth, and Wilcox, all of them West Point men,