bring into the field, and one which was receiving daily reinforcements from the populous States of the North. The portion of Maryland most favourable to the South lay between the Potomac and the Chesapeake, and would therefore be removed from the immediate theatre of operations; whilst, by the movement across the Potomac, Lee's own army would be threatened by the garrisons of Washington and Baltimore on its right, and the thickly-populated State of Pennsylvania, strongly Union in its sentiments, on its left. Such were the dangers and difficulties of an advance into Maryland.

On the other hand, it could be alleged in favour of the plan, that the main army of the North was completely demoralised; that it was commanded by generals who did not possess the confidence of their men, and who had shown little military capacity; that after such a succession of victories the Confederate troops and people would be greatly disappointed and disheartened if the army should retreat to Richmond without accomplishing anything beyond the repulse of the enemy; that the siege of Washington could not be attempted with any prospect of success; and that, owing to the devastation of the country in its immediate vicinity, the army could not long remain in the position it at present occupied. It might also be urged, that so much had been said of the enthusiasm of the Marylanders for the South, and their hatred of the tyranny of the North, that now was the time to try whether that enthusiasm would be shown in deeds, as well as in words and patriotic songs; whilst, should the army be joined by large reinforcements from that State, the invasion of Pennsylvania might be attempted, and peace obtained more speedily by thus bringing home to the people of

the North the evils and misery of war than by acting entirely on the defensive, and trusting to her exhaustion by the successive repulse of her invading armies.

The time seemed favourable for converting a defensive into an offensive war. The West was not in a position to send reinforcements, trembling as she was lest the great city of Ohio should fall, and the Eastern States were thus left entirely to their own resources to fight their own battles. Influenced by these considerations, President Davis sanctioned an advance into Maryland, and General Lee, almost within sight of his own house on Arlington Heights, turned his horse's head northwards, and marched towards the fords* of the Potomac. One thing he does not appear to have sufficiently calculated, and that is the influence which the change of commanders would exercise on the troops. M'Clellan's name seems to have possessed at that time a peculiar power in raising the confidence of those under his command, whilst his talents were especially adapted for the organisation of an army. In a few days the army of Virginia regained in a great measure its morale, and afforded an additional proof how quickly American soldiers recover from the most disastrous defeats. Stringent orders respecting the sale of spirits were issued, strong provost-guards were organised, and every means taken to reform the army under its several brigade, division, and corps commanders. General M'Clellan was for some short time ignorant of the plans of his opponent; the Government still trembled for the safety of Washington; and, until the 6th of September, the army remained in close vicinity to the lines of fortification.

* Fordable in some places at this time of year.

In the meantime Lee had crossed the Potomac; his army still continued to be divided into three commands -viz. the corps of General Jackson, consisting of the divisions of Generals A. P. Hill, Ewell, and his own division; and that of General Longstreet, composed of the divisions of Generals M'Laws, Walker, Anderson, and Hood, and a division under General D. H. Hill, which usually acted independently of either of the generals commanding corps. The cavalry, under General Stuart, continued to cover the advance of the army, and was generally attached to the corps of Longstreet and D. Hill, a small number only acting with Jackson. The scene of operations selected was the country between Washington and the range of hills bearing the name of South Mountain, and forming a continuation of the chain of the Blue Ridge on the northern side of the Potomac.

On the 5th September the army crossed the fords of the Potomac, and on the 6th Jackson's corps entered Frederick City (Maryland), situated on the right bank of the Monocacy River, a tributary of the Potomac. The march was in some degree one of triumph. The soldiers of the Confederate army fully believed in the enthusiasm of the whole of Maryland for the South, and looked forward to a campaign in a rich and friendly country. The song most popular in the ranks was that in which Maryland invoked Southern aid to free her from Northern tyranny, whilst the presence in the army of many of her sons appeared to afford proof of the truth of her professions. It was therefore with much disappointment that the men perceived that the people of the State whom they first encountered were content

* Commanded successively by General Starke and General Jones.

to gaze with wonder on the ragged and poorly-equipped army, but showed little disposition to join its ranks. From contact with Pennsylvania they had imbibed many of the sentiments of their neighbours, and, accustomed as they had been to the well-clothed and well-fed Federal troops, they could scarcely believe that the men, so devoid of all the pomp of war, whom they saw defiling along the roads and through the streets of their villages, could be the army which had defeated in so many engagements the apparently splendid troops of the North. There was little in the appearance of Jackson's veterans to entice the recruit, uninfluenced by other motives than that of a vague idea of obtaining military glory, the service seemed to offer plenty of hardships and hard blows; but, stripped of the externals which he had hitherto associated with a soldier's life, there was little to induce him to leave his comfortable farm and to embark in a cause for which he had possibly no deeply-seated attachment. The case would probably have been different if the Confederate army had reached Eastern Maryland, or if Baltimore had been free from the pressure put on her by the guns of the forts and gunboats commanding her streets; but, from whatever cause it originated, the fact remained that Western Maryland afforded but slight assistance to the Southern cause, and little response to the proclamation issued by General Lee on his entry into Frederick. The divisions of Longstreet and that of D. Hill followed Jackson's corps across the Potomac, and the line of the Monocacy River was for a short time occupied by the Confederate forces.

Irrespective of the army in Washington, a garrison of about 9,000 Federals, under Colonel Miles, occupied a

strong and entrenched position on heights overlooking Harper's Ferry, commanding the main road from the Shenandoah Valley to Frederick and Baltimore; this garrison was numerically too considerable to be passed unnoticed, even if the position, forming as it may be said to have done, a door of entry from Virginia to Maryland and Pennsylvania, could be disregarded.

Whilst, therefore, General Lee, with Longstreet's corps, continued his march into Maryland, Jackson received orders to advance up the left bank of the Potomac, and, crossing the river in the vicinity of Martingsburg, to occupy that place. This was accordingly done, and a large quantity of stores collected at Martingsburg fell into the hands of A. P. Hill, whilst the remaining two divisions seized on North Mountain Depôt, nearer to Harper's Ferry.* The Federal force garrisoning Martingsburg retreated to Harper's Ferry,† and General Jackson proceeded to invest the place on the western angle formed by the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers, whilst detachments from Longstreet's command closed the approaches from Washington. On both sides of the Potomac squadrons of cavalry guarded the direct road to Pennsylvania.

Whilst these operations were in progress, it became known to General Lee that the Federal army, reorganised under M'Clellan, was marching from their lines with the intention of offering battle and of relieving Harper's Ferry. The numerical strength of the Confederate army was about seventy or seventy-five thousand men, whilst M'Clellan had under his command at least one hundred thousand men, irrespective of the garrisons

*See General Jackson's official despatch. Second Year of the War, by Pollard, page 128.

This force had retreated from Winchester on September 3.