CHAPTER XIII.

THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE.

LITTLE influence had the season of the year in causing a cessation of hostilities in the South-Western States; through the winter months, the rise of the rivers encouraged enterprises on the part of the fleet, and in summer the firmness of the ground and the growth of the crops, allowed of more extended operations by the troops. There was no intermission in the strife, and the naval and military forces along the eastern and southern boundaries of the Confederacy, looked in vain for relaxation, which in colder climates is necessitated by winter. But in Tennessee and Virginia, the heavy rains of January, February, and March prevented all attempts at movement on a grand scale. The cavalry and detached corps on either side made raids into the enemy's country, and in Virginia, an engagement of more than ordinary dimensions, fought between the Federal and Confederate cavalry, was the forerunner of the important campaign of the spring.

During the time that the two armies watched each other from either bank of the Rappahannock, Stuart's cavalry, under his lieutenants, made several incursions within the Federal lines. Captain Mosby, commanding a troop of irregular cavalry, had distinguished himself by more than one bold enterprise, and, among

others, the feat of capturing General Stoughton within his own lines, and surrounded by a considerable force, was not the least remarkable. With less than a troop of horsemen, he rode boldly into Fairfax Court-house, surprised and took prisoner in his bed the general in command, beat up the quarters of Colonel Wyndham, commanding the cavalry brigade, who fortunately for himself had gone to Washington, and rode off without the loss of a man, and with a considerable number of captured horses.

To revenge such insults, and to infuse esprit de corps into his cavalry, which under a proper system of discipline was improving and becoming more equal to the better horsemen of Virginia, General Averill, who with General Stoneman had acquired the reputation of a good cavalry officer, made a reconnaissance in force towards Culpepper Court-house, where Fitzhugh Lee was reported to be encamped. With seven cavalry regiments and six guns Averill advanced, and on reaching the banks of the Rappahannock encountered a dismounted detachment of Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry, who behind the shelter of the woods offered a resistance to the passage of the river. A squadron of the 1st Rhode Island regiment gallantly rode into the stream, and ascending the opposite bank drove back the skirmishers. In the meantime Fitzhugh Lee had drawn up his brigade of about 800 men, and barred the road to Culpepper. The Federals formed in line, and, supported by their artillery, kept up the engagement for the greater portion of the day, their front covered with dismounted skirmishers who advanced firing through the woods. Finding, however, that the force opposed to them presented a firm front, and alarmed lest his retreat should be cut off, Averill

ordered the cavalry to retire across the Rappahannock. This was accomplished with little loss, for although the Confederate cavalry attempted to charge more than once, they were prevented by the broken ground, the woods, and the fences, from crossing swords with the enemy. The skirmish was of little importance, except as exhibiting the improvement made by the Federals in the organization of their cavalry, for even if the accounts of the hand to hand combats described in the New York papers cannot wholly be credited, the dash across the Rappahannock, and the orderly method with which the troops were manoeuvred, evince a considerable improvement in the constitution of the cavalry force. The wealth of the Northern States in men, horses, and arms was beginning to counterbalance the inferiority of the riders exhibited in the earlier periods of the war; and the raid of Stoneman, which followed soon after the skirmish on the Rappahannock, presented features worthy of comparison with Stuart's bold movements on the Peninsula and in Maryland.

As the month of May approached, rumour spoke of a fresh attempt on Richmond. Hooker, the new general, had been lavish in criticisms on his predecessors, and not sparing of praise of his own past acts and promises for the future. It remained to be seen whether he could redeem the disaster of Fredericksburg and justify the hopes of his admirers.

After consultation with General Halleck, a combined scheme of advance on the enemy's capital was planned. Political as well as military reasons necessitated the resumption of the campaign. It was felt that prolonged inactivity would strengthen the hands of the Democrats, and add to the ranks of the peace party: the term of service of many of the men of the army

of the Potomac would shortly expire, and, before losing a large proportion of the veteran soldiers, it was thought advisable again to try the issue of battle, and endeavour by a victory to infuse spirit into the troops, and also to rouse the enthusiasm of the population from which recruits were to be drawn. Notwithstanding the numerous desertions and the difficulty of obtaining volunteers, the Federal forces were far superior in numbers to their opponents. Not only was the army of the Potomac kept up to a strength of about 150,000 men, but the several detached expeditions on the coast of Virginia and North Carolina threatened the Confederate capital from other directions, and necessitated counter detachments from General Lee's army, which he could ill afford to spare.

There is no clearer proof of the want of men in the Confederacy, than the position in which General Lee found himself in April, 1863. To protect Richmond and its vicinity from Forster in North Carolina, Peck at Suffolk in South-Eastern Virginia, and Key threatening to advance from the Pamunkey, General Lee had been obliged to detach nearly a third of the army with which he had fought at Fredericksburg, and to send Longstreet himself to command the department which included Richmond and its vicinity, together with the state of North Carolina, placed under the immediate supervision of General D. Hill. Thus the great Confederate commander, aware of the strength of his adversary, and of his anticipated advance, prepared to meet him with a force little if at all exceeding 50,000 But if his army was few in numbers, its morale was such that it justified the expectations of its commander. The men who composed it were of one nation, fighting for one cause, and bound together by

men.

more than ordinary ties; they were commanded by generals who had led them during all the great battles of the war, and under whom they had never yet sustained defeat; and, above all, there was that perfect confidence in the Commander-in-Chief, and complete accord between him and his subordinates, that rendered the well-handled and compact body which held the heights above Fredericksburg, more than a match for the heterogeneous masses which seemed to threaten to overwhelm them.

General Hooker's plan of attack was to divide his army into two portions, of which the stronger, having crossed the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers, should advance against the Confederate left wing, whilst the Federal left wing, equal in numbers to General Lee's whole army, should attack and occupy the heights above Fredericksburg, and seize the Richmond Railway. At the same time that the bulk of the army should be thus occupied, the cavalry, excepting a small force under Pleasanton, was to move completely round the Confederate position, and whilst one body under Averill marched on Gordonsville, the other under Stoneman, interposing between General Lee's army and Richmond, was to cut the lines of rail, and burn the bridges over the North and South Anna Rivers.

Such were General Hooker's dispositions when he commenced his march on the 27th of April; his great numerical force enabled him to divide his army, and yet to maintain his superiority at all points. It was hoped that the Confederate cavalry, concentrated to swell the numbers of the main army, would be unable to offer resistance to Stoneman and Averill, and that General Lee, attacked by such overwhelming forces, would either be crushed or forced to retreat along a line