COMPOSITION OF THE TWO ARMIES. under the com He also gave a 21 desertions, and a conscription act, now put into rigorous operation, caused a rapid growth of his army in numbers. In the space of three months "Stonewall" Jackson's corps, alone increased from twenty-five thousand to thirty-three thousand men.' Lee consolidated his artillery into one corps, and placed it mand of General Pendleton, as chief. similar organization to his cavalry. Lee found himself at the head of an army unsurpassed in discipline, and full of enthusiasm; yet it was divided, for, so early as February, he had sent Longstreet with two divisions to operate against General J. J. Peck in the vicinity of Suffolk, on the south side of the James River, and other troops were raiding with Imboden in West Virginia. Yet he felt strong, with only about half the number of troops in hand commanded by his antagonist, for he had extended and strengthened his fortifications in rear of Fredericksburg, and constructed a system of elaborate works along his whole front reaching from Banks's Ford to Port Royal, more than twenty-five miles. Even with his superior force Hooker could not hope to take these works, so he made preparations to force Lee out of them by turning the flank of the latter and threatening his rear. 3 CONFEDERATE GENERAL We have remarked that the cavalry of both armies had been active for some weeks. On the 10th of February" W. H. F. Lee, with his a 1868. brigade, made an unsuccessful attempt to surprise and capture the National forces at Gloucester Point, opposite Yorktown; and at a little past midnight, a month later," a small band of mounted men, led b March 8. by the afterward famous guerilla chief, John S. Moseby, dashed into the village of Fairfax Court-House, took from his bed and carried away the commanding officer, Colonel Stoughton, and some others, and, with many horses and other property, hurried off in the direction of Hooker's army, cutting the telegraph wires on their way. For this exploit Moseby 'The Battle-fields of Virginia, volume I.: Chancellorsville, by Captain Jed. Hotchkiss and LieutenantColonel William Allan (officers of Lee's army), page 14. This work contains carefully constructed maps, illustrative of the historical narrative. Chancellorsville, by Hotchkiss and Allan, page 15. 3 Hooker's army was composed of seven corps, and comprised twenty-three divisions. The First Corps was commanded by General J. F. Reynolds; the Second, by General D. N. Couch; the Third, by General D. E. Sickles; the Fifth, by General G. G. Meade; the Sixth, by General J. Sedgwick; the Eleventh, by General O. 0. Howard, and the Twelfth, by General H. W. Slocum. The division commanders were Generals J. S. Wadsworth J. C. Robinson, A. Doubleday, W. S. Hancock, J. Gibbon, W. H. French, D. D. Birney, H. G. Berry, A. W. Whipple, W. T. H. Brooks, A. P. Howe, J. Newton, C. Griffin, G. Sykes, A. A. Humphreys, C. Devens, A. Von Steinwehr, C. Schurz, S. Williams, J. W. Geary, A. Pleasanton, J. Buford, and W. W. Averill. The last three were commanders of cavalry under General G. Stoneman, who was the chief of the mounted men. Lee's army was composed of two corps, the First commanded by General Longstreet, and the Second by "Stonewall" Jackson. Of these General T. J. Jackson's entire corps, comprising the divisions of A. P. Hill, D. H. Hill, Trimble, and Early, and the divisions of Anderson and McLaws, of Longstreet's corps, were now present in front of Hooker. Also the brigades of Fitzhugh Lee, and W. H. F. Lee, of Stuart's cavalry, with 170 pieces of artillery, making a total of a little more than 60,000 men of all arms. This shows the costume of a Confederate general, according to the regulations of their "War Department." It was composed of a chapeau trimmed with gold lace, a gray coat with narrow buff collar and cuffs, blue pantaloons, and black leather sword-belt. On the collar, within an embroidered wreath, a golden star. On the coat two rows of gilt buttons, and sleeves trimmed with gold lace. 22 CAVALRY BATTLE AT KELLY'S FORD. was publicly commended by General Stuart, and he was promoted to major of cavalry.' A few days after Moseby's bold exploit, the first purely cavalry battle of the war occurred, not far from Kelly's Ford, on the Rappahannock, between National troops, under General W. W. Averill, and Confederates under General Fitzhugh Lee. Averill was sent out to cut off Stuart and Lee, who, it was reported, were with a strong party enforcing the draft in Fauquier County. In the face of brisk opposition from a small cavalry picket, Averill crossed the Rappahannock, and was pushMarch 17, ing on toward Culpep per Court-House," when, JOHN S. MOSELY. 1863. about a mile from the ford, he encountered the forces of Lee. A desperate battle ensued, which continued until late in the evening, when Averill withdrew, and recrossed the river, followed by the Confederates to the water's edge. Averill lost about seventy-five men, and his antagonist about one hundred. Early in April, notwithstanding the roads were yet heavy, Hooker deter 1 Moseby was a graduate of the University of Virginia, and a lawyer of some local repute. He had been one of Lee's most useful scouts for some time, and had proved himself to be a daring, dashing leader, whe inspired his few followers with his own spirit. From the leader of a scouting party of a few men, he rose to the position of commander of a minimum regiment of adventurers, who, one of them said, Moseby himself declared, "could only be held together by the hope of plunder." See Partisan Life with Moseby, by John Scott. One of his most trusted and representative men seems to have been a Sergeant Ames, of the Fifth New York Cavalry, who deserted, Moseby's biographer, Marshall Crawford, says, "because he could not fight for the eternal negra.” Moseby "took Ames to his bosom," and whenever any thing particularly revolting was to be done, the deserter appears to have been employed. His fitness for service with the guerrilla chief may be inferred from the fact, exultingly set forth in a history of Moseby's exploits by one of his followers (Major Scott), that when, on one occasion, the command encountered Ames's old regiment (Fifth New York), one of the latter recognized him in the hurly-burly, and pleasantly called out, "How are you, Sergeant Ames ?" "Well!" was the sergeant's reply, when, with his pistol, he shot his old friend dead. Moseby's military career, as described by his ardent friends, was more that of a highwayman, protected by the sanction of a pretended Government, under orders to harrass, pillage, and capture the enemy, than that of a soldier. Lee publicly commended him for his "activity and skill" in "killing, wounding, and capturing" during a brief period, "about 1,200 of the enemy, taking 1,600 horses and mules, 230 beef cattle, and 85 wagons and ambulances," with the loss of little more than twenty of his own men. According to a statement to the author, by Colonel II. S. Gansevort, whose command was Moseby's most dreaded enemy in the region of Upper Virginia, east of the Blue Ridge, during the years 1963 and 1864, a large number of Moseby's men were volunteers from the regular Confederate cavalry, whose love of adventure and Just for plunder made them so much attached to their leader, that a threat to send one of them back to his regi ment was sufficient to insure the good behavior of the recusant. The estimation in which Moseby was held by the Government is shown by the expressions of the Assistant Secretary of War, in the following account of an exploit in October, 1864: "WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, "Colonel Gansevort, commanding the Thirteenth New York Cavalry, has succeeded in surprising the rebel camp of the guerrilla and freebooter, Moseby, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, capturing his artillery, consisting of four pieces, with munitions complete. "C. A DANA, Assistant Secretary of War." 2 On the 28th of February, General Stuart asked Governor Letcher's leave to "collect together the militis of portions of Fairfax and Loudon (preparatory to the draft), which lay beyond the outposts."-Autograph Letter of General Stuart. Permission was given. STONEMAN'S RAID. a April 12, 1863. 23 mined to march at once upon his foe, for the terms of enlistment of a majority of his men would soon expire. He directed" General Stoneman to proceed cautiously with his cavalry up the eastern side of the Rappahannock; cross above the Orange and Alexandria railway; strike and disperse Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry at Culpepper Court-House, estimated at two thousand men; push on to Gordonsville, and, turning to the left, strike the Fredericksburg and Richmond railway at Saxton's Junction, and destroy it, its bridges, stations, and rolling stock, with the telegraph wires along its line, so as to sever Lee's communication with Richmond. Hooker charged Stoneman to move with celerity, and to make his watchword and order, "Fight, fight, FIGHT!" He was instructed to harrass the retreating columns of the foe, for Hooker did not doubt that Lee would find it necessary to abandon Fredericksburg and fly toward Richmond. But his efforts were foiled, and his plans were modified by heavy rains, which so filled the Rappahannock that a division JOSEPH HOOKER. which had already crossed was recalled, and, on swimming horses, passed back to the left bank of the river. b 1963. April 28, 29. Hooker paused for a fortnight, when he put his whole army in motion for the purpose of flanking Lee, drawing him from his defenses, and fighting him out of shelter. Ten thousand horsemen were prepared for a raid on the railways in Lee's rear, and on Monday, the 27th of April,' the turning column, composed of the corps of Meade (Fifth), Howard (Eleventh), and Slocum (Twelfth), was put in motion. Its destination was Chancellorsville, a point ten miles southwest of Fredericksburg, in Lee's rear. Stealthily the column moved up the Rappahannock, and crossed it' on a pontoon bridge at Kelly's Ford, twenty-seven miles above Fredericksburg, the march well masked by the passage of a heavy force below and near that city. The turning column pushed rapidly forward, and wading the Rapid Anna, armpit deep (the Fifth corps at Elly's Ford, and the Eleventh and Twelfth at Germania Ford), that night, in the light of huge bonfires, reached Chancellorsville on the afternoon of the 30th in excellent spirits, to find that the Confederate General, R. H. Anderson, had retired with his troops toward Fredericksburg that morning. It had been a most extraordinary march of thirty-seven miles in two days, with artillery and baggage, over heavy roads and across two rivers, with a loss of not more than half a dozen men. Meanwhile portions of Couch's corps (Second) had been waiting in concealment near Banks's and United States Fords, leaving the remainder, under General Gibbon, at Falmouth, in full view of the Confederates, so as to conceal the movement. So soon as the other three corps were making their way toward the Rapid Anna, the detachment of the Second crossed on a pontoon bridge, and marched rapidly on Chancellors 24 THE NATIONALS AT CHANCELLORSVILLE. ville, where the reunited forces, about thirty-six thousand in number, exclusive of the artillery, and some detachments which had not arrived, bivouacked that night. General Pleasanton accompanied the infantry with one brigade of cavalry, and the remainder of the horsemen, under General Stoneman, pushed on toward Rapid Anna Station and Louisa Court-House. From his head-quarters, near Falmouth, Hooker issued an exultant order, such as the circumstances seemed to justify,' and, crossApril 30, ing the Rappahannock, he pushed on to Chancellorsville, where, in the spacious brick mansion of Mr. Chancellor, he made hist head-quarters that night. Pleasanton's cavalry was thrown out upon the 1868. brigade to watch the Nationals, Stuart set out with his staff for General Lee's head-quarters, when he encountered a regiment of Pleasanton's cavalry. He sent back to Todd's tavern for a regiment, and at the head of his staff gallantly attacked his foe. Ample assistance came, and after a sharp encounter in the bright moonlight the National force was broken and scattered. While the movements on Hooker's right were so successfully performed, his left wing, under Sedgwick, composed of his own corps (Sixth), and those of Reynolds (First), and Sickles (Third), had as successfully masked the movement, for Lee, while TODD'S TAVERN,2 watching the visible enemy in front of him, was not aware of the passage of the Rappahannock by the turning column, until the three corps were on their way toward the Rapid Anna. Taking position a little below Fred The following is a copy of the order: "It is with heartfelt satisfaction that the commanding general announces to the army that the operations of the last three days have determined that our enemy must either ingloriously fly, or come out from behind his defenses and give us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him. The operations of the Fifth, Eleventh, and Twelfth corps, have been a succession of splendid achievements." This is a view of Todd's tavern, as it appeared when the writer sketched it, in June, 1866. It was also the head-quarters of General Warren, and other officers, when the army under Grant was in that vicinity, in the spring of 1964. LEE PREPARES FOR BATTLE. 25 a April, 1863. ericksburg, Sedgwick caused pontoon bridges to be laid on the night of the 28th, and before daylight Brooks's division crossed near the place of Franklin's passage,' and captured and drove the Confederate pickets there. Wadsworth's division also crossed. Breast works were thrown up, and there was every appearance of preparations for April 80. passing over a larger force. Pursuant to orders, Sickles now moved his corps stealthily away, and, marching swiftly, crossed the river at the United States Ford, and hastened to Chancellorsville. When Lee discovered Hooker's real intentions, he did not fly toward Richmond, as his antagonist supposed he would, but prepared to fight. He had called "Stonewall" Jackson's large force up from Moss Neck and its vicinity when Sedgwick made his demonstration, and now, with his army well in hand, from Hamilton's Crossing, on the railway, to the Rappahannock near the ford just above Falmouth, he determined to strike Hooker immediate and vigorous blows. His object was twofold: First, to secure the passage of the river at Banks's Ford, and thus widen the distance between Sedgwick and the main army; and, secondly, to compel Hooker to fight in his disadvantageous position at Chancellorsville, which was in the midst of a region covered with a dense forest of shrub-oaks and pines, and tangled undergrowth, broken by morasses, hills, and ravines, called The Wilderness, and which extended from a little eastward of Chancellor's house to Mine Run on the west, and several miles southward from the Rapid Anna. With these designs, Lee left General Early, with about nine thousand men and thirty pieces of artillery, to hold his fortified position at Fredericksburg against Sedgwick, and at a little past midnight on the first of May, he put Jackson's column in motion toward Chancellorsville. It joined Anderson's (which, as we have observed, had fallen back from Chancellorsville on the approach of the National forces) at eight o'clock in the morning, near the Tabernacle Church, half way between 1 See page 489, volume II. • 1863. This is a view of the Rappahannock just above Falmouth, as it appeared when the writer sketched it, in June, 1866, looking from the south side of the stream. The river is shallow here, with a rocky bottom, and broken by rocky islands. Near the white building seen on the left was Hooker's head-quarters tent (see page 24), at near the close of April. The river is always fordable here at low water, |