securing the defensive. It was in large part the mere holding the position at Gettysburg-the strategic key to the region south of the Susquehanna-that gained for the Union army the battle and the campaign; but when Lee, after terrible losses, found himself compelled to abandon the invasion, and seek safety in retreat, it was by taking up a strong vantage ground on the ridge of Marsh Creek that he was able, in a most difficult situation, to show so imposing a front of opposition as to secure for his army safe exit from Maryland into Virginia.

Thus was baulked and brought to naught the scheme of Confederate invasion, an invasion undertaken by an army powerful in numbers and in the prestige of victory, and aiming at the boldest quarry-the conquest of peace on the soil of the loyal States. That it was a mistake, is not difficult to recognize in the light of the result; but, as I have already pointed out, it was an error in its inception, for it was an enterprise that overstepped the limits of that fitting theory of military policy that generally governed the Confederate warcouncils, and committed Lee to all the perils and losses of an invasion, without any adequate recompense, and even without any well-determined military object.

The expulsion of the invaders freed the North from a great dread; and though there were those that were dissatisfied at the incomplete termination of the campaign, the country was not loth to recognize that there had been wrought out for it a great deliverance by the valor of the Army of the Potomac. For once, that sorely tried, long-suffering army had the freelygiven boon of a nation's gratitude.

NOTE.-I am indebted to Colonel J. B. Batchelder, author of the well-known and beautifully accurate isometrical drawing of the battlefield of Gettysburg, for a careful revision of the tactical details of the action at Gettysburg, and for many explanations given on the ground.

X.

A CAMPAIGN OF MANEUVRES.

JULY, 1863-MARCH, 1864.

I.

THE MARCH TO THE RAPIDAN.

THE safe retreat of Lee from Maryland into Virginia imposed upon General Meade the necessity of an immediate pursuit. This he undertook with a promptitude that was very creditable, considering the trying campaign that had just closed.

On recrossing the Potomac, Lee fell back into the Shenandoah Valley, placing his force on the line of Opequan Creekthe same position he had held during the autumn after his retreat from Antietam.

Meade's plan of advance into Virginia was confessedly modelled on that of McClellan in November, 1862; and it was probably the best that could have been adopted. As a problem in that branch of the art of war which is named logistics, or the supplying of armies, it was not considered practicable to subsist a force of the magnitude of the Army of the Potomac by the means available in a direct advance up the Shenandoah Valley. It remained, therefore, to march by the route of the Loudon Valley; and by hugging the Blue Ridge closely, Meade hoped, by vigorous action, to bring the Con

federate force to battle under advantageous conditions before it should break through the mountains.*

The army crossed the Potomac on ponton-bridges at Harper's Ferry and Berlin on the 17th and 18th July, and followed southward, skirting the Blue Ridge; while Lee, conforming to this manœuvre, fell back up the Shenandoah Valley. The movement of Meade was made with much vigor-indeed with so much vigor that, on reaching Union, on the 20th of June, he was compelled to halt a day, lest by further advance he should dangerously uncover his right; but even with this delay, the army, on reaching Manassas Gap on the 22d, was so well up with the enemy, that it gained that point while the long Confederate column was still passing on the other side of the mountains. This, therefore, seemed an excellent opening for a flank attack, and it was fully appreciated by Meade, who directed five corps on Manassas Gap-the Third Corps, now under command of General French, being in advance. The selection of the leader for an enterprise demanding the most energetic qualities of mind-seeing that it was necessary to force Lee to battle under circumstances in which he would naturally wish to avoid it—was very unfortunate; and by his mismanagement General French succeeded in depriving the army of one of the few really advantageous opportunities it ever had to strike a decisive blow. A slight observing force had been left at the Gap, but this was expelled, and the corps passed through on the evening of the 22d, prepared to advance on Front Royal in the morning. But, on moving forward to strike the enemy's line of retreat, the corps-commander acted with such feebleness,† as to allow the rear-guard to delay him

* No demonstration was made in the Valley of the Shenandoah other than that of a body of cavalry under Gregg, which retired after an indecisive engagement with the Confederate cavalry under General Fitz Hugh Lee at Shepherdstown.

+ General Warren, in his evidence before the War Committee, states that General French "made a very feeble attack, with one brigade only, and wasted the whole day." He adds, that General Meade was more disappointed in that result than in any thing that had happened."-Report on the Conduct of the War, second series, vol. i., pp. 381, 382.

the whole day, so that it was evening before he penetrated to the Confederate line of battle at Front Royal. Next morning, when Meade hoped to give battle, Lee had made good his retreat. Upon this, as nothing was now to be hoped from the movement on hand, the march was conducted leisurely towards the Rappahannock, and Lee retired to the vicinity o Culpepper.

In this position a considerable period of repose followed; and this inaction was imposed not more by the necessity of resting and recruiting the army, than because both sides found it necessary to draw detachments from the armies in Virginia. for other needs. From the army of Meade a considerable body was taken to send to South Carolina, and a large force withdrawn to dispatch to New York for the purpose of enforcing the draft, the attempted execution of which, some time before, had given rise to extensive riots in that city. On the other hand, the severe pressure that Rosecrans was bringing to bear upon the central army of the Confederacy under General Bragg, in Tennessee, prompted the detachment from Lee's army of the corps of Longstreet, for the purpose of throwing it into the scale as a make-weight against the Union force. This withdrawal took place early in September, and necessarily reduced the Confederates to a purely defensive attitude in Virginia. Soon afterwards, General Meade became aware of Longstreet's departure, and he then sent his cavalry across the Rappahannock, drove the enemy over the Rapidan, and subsequently followed with his whole force, occupying Culpepper and the regions between the Rappahannock and the Rapidan, the latter river now becoming the

*"As the Federals continued to advance along the eastern slope of the mountains, apparently with the purpose of cutting us off from the railroad, Longstreet was ordered on the 19th of July to proceed to Culpepper Courthouse by way of Front Royal. He succeeded in passing part of his command over the Shenandoah in time to prevent the occupation of Manassas and Chester Gaps by the enemy. As soon as a ponton-bridge could be laid down, the rest of his corps crossed and marched through Chester Gap to Culpepper, where they ar rived on the 24th. He was followed by Hill's corps. Ewell reached Front Royal the 23d, and encamped near Madison Courthouse the 29th."-Lee: Report.

federate force to battle under advantageous conditions before it should break through the mountains.*

The army crossed the Potomac on ponton-bridges at Harper's Ferry and Berlin on the 17th and 18th July, and followed southward, skirting the Blue Ridge; while Lee, conforming to this manœuvre, fell back up the Shenandoah Valley. The movement of Meade was made with much vigor-indeed with so much vigor that, on reaching Union, on the 20th of June, he was compelled to halt a day, lest by further advance he should dangerously uncover his right; but even with this delay, the army, on reaching Manassas Gap on the 22d, was so well up with the enemy, that it gained that point while the long Confederate column was still passing on the other side of the mountains. This, therefore, seemed an excellent opening for a flank attack, and it was fully appreciated by Meade, who directed five corps on Manassas Gap-the Third Corps, now under command of General French, being in advance. The selection of the leader for an enterprise demanding the most energetic qualities of mind-seeing that it was necessary to force Lee to battle under circumstances in which he would naturally wish to avoid it was very unfortunate; and by his mismanagement General French succeeded in depriving the army of one of the few really advantageous opportunities it ever had to strike a decisive blow. A slight observing force had been left at the Gap, but this was expelled, and the corps passed through on the evening of the 22d, prepared to advance on Front Royal in the morning. But, on moving forward to strike the enemy's line of retreat, the corps-commander acted with such feebleness,† as to allow the rear-guard to delay him

* No demonstration was made in the Valley of the Shenandoah other than that of a body of cavalry under Gregg, which retired after an indecisive engagement with the Confederate cavalry under General Fitz Hugh Lee at Shepherdstown.

+ General Warren, in his evidence before the War Committee, states that General French "made a very feeble attack, with one brigade only, and wasted the whole day." He adds, that General Meade "was more disappointed in that result than in any thing that had happened."-Report on the Conduct of the War, second series, vol. i., pp. 381, 382.