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motion his army, numbering
one hundred and
thirty-two thousand men,
"the finest army on the
planet," he called it. He
crossed the Rappahannock
about twenty-five
miles above Fredericksburg.
Lee opposed him
with sixty thousand men,
and the two armies met
at Chancellorsville on the
2nd of May. Jackson
marched rapidly across
the front of the Federal
army, and falling unexpectedly upon Hooker's right wing,
drove it back in utter rout to Chancellorsville. The next
day Lee forced Hooker back over the Rappahannock, and
then turning on General Sedgwick, who with twenty-five
thousand men had captured Marye's Heights, drove him
likewise across the river. The result of the operations
of four days from May 2 to May 5 was a total defeat of
the Federal army, with a loss of seventeen thousand to
twelve thousand of the Confederates.

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Death of Stonewall Jackson. — But Chancellorsville was
a dearly won victory to the Confederates, for on May 2,
Stonewall Jackson, at the moment of victory, was accidentally
shot by his own men as he returned from a
reconnoissance. His injuries were so serious as to render
the amputation of his arm necessary. After this had been
done, pneumonia set in, and he died on May 10. "Let us
cross over the river and rest in the shade of the trees,"
were the last words of this renowned soldier. "I have
lost my right arm!" General Lee exclaimed, when he
learned that Jackson was dead. For daring, swiftness
in execution, untiring energy, and moral influence, Jackson
stood preeminent. Never for a moment did he doubt
that the Southern cause was righteous, or lose faith

J. E. B. Stuart

in its ultimate triumph.
In his death the Confederates
sustained an irreparable
loss. His place
could not be supplied.
There was but one Stonewall
Jackson.

Brandy Station. — When
Lee's army began to move
after the battle of Chancellorsville,
Hooker sent
his cavalry across the Rappahannock
River to penetrate
the designs of the
Confederates. At Brandy
Station, where the Federals
encountered General Stuart,[42] the fiercest cavalry battle

216

of the whole war took place. Each side was about ten
thousand strong. The engagement lasted all day, but
ended in the defeat of the Federals, who, after sustaining
a heavy loss, were forced to recross the river.

Battle of Gettysburg. — After the victory at Chancellorsville,
Lee assumed the offensive and invaded Pennsylvania
with an army seventy thousand strong. The Federal
army, numbering one hundred and two thousand, under a
new commander, General Meade, followed the Confederates.
The foremost divisions of the opposing forces
came together at Gettysburg. The Federals secured a
position on some hills called Cemetery Ridge, where they
fortified themselves strongly. Here General Lee attacked
them, and for three days (July 1-3) a fierce battle raged.
The turning point came on the third day when three Confederate
divisions, Pickett's, Pettigrew's, and Pender's,
numbering fifteen thousand in all, made a desperate charge
on the Federal left center under a fire more severe than
that which opened on the Old Guard at Waterloo. The
divisions of Pettigrew and Pender recoiled under the terrible
cannonade to which they were subjected; but Pickett's
division, composed mostly of Virginians, kept on as steadily
as men on parade, broke through the Federal lines and
planted their colors within them. Had they been properly
supported, they would have won a decisive victory. But
no support came, and the gallant division, after holding
on alone for ten minutes, was cut to pieces and forced to
retire, after having made a charge that surpassed that of
the famous Light Brigade at Balaklava. Both armies

217

suffered severely, the Confederate loss being twenty thousand
and the Federal twenty-three thousand men. General
Lee, having failed in his attempt to drive the Federals
from their fortified heights, took a position a few miles
from Meade's army, where he remained for ten days, and
then retired across the Potomac into Virginia.

The Turning Point in the War. — Gettysburg, though not
a decisive victory like Waterloo, marks the turning point
in the Civil War. Had Lee been able to overthrow
the Federal army on that hard-fought field, it might
have brought peace. Gregg, the English historian, says
he was assured on what seemed to be sufficient authority,
that if Lee had been victorious at Gettysburg, the government
of England was prepared to join with France in
recognizing the Confederate States as an independent
power. There was now, however, but little hope of foreign
intervention. Serious disasters had already befallen the
Confederate armies in the South and West. The day after
Gettysburg the fall of Vicksburg gave the Federals control
of the Mississippi River, and by the end of the year,
1863, much of the territory of the Confederacy had fallen
into the hands of the Federals. Still there was hope of
ultimate success as long as the Army of Northern Virginia
was in the field. By this time Lee had become the
idol of the South. He had won the confidence and love
of the people, and to him and his army they looked for
deliverance.

QUESTIONS

1. Describe the battle of Chancellorsville.
2. Why was it a dearly won victory for the Confederates?
3. Give an account of the death of Stonewall Jackson.
4. What did General Lee exclaim on hearing of it?
5. What is said of Jackson?

218

6. Who was J. E. B. Stuart, and what fierce cavalry battle did he win?
7. What Northern state did Lee invade after the battle of Chancellorsville?
8. By whom was he followed, and what was the relative strength of
the two armies?
9. Describe the battle of Gettysburg.
10. What is said of Pickett's division at Gettysburg?
11. What was the result of this battle?
12. Why is Gettysburg regarded as the turning point of the war?
13. What disasters had befallen the Confederacy in the South and West?
14. To whom did the South look for ultimate success?

[42]

James E. B. Stuart (1832-1864), was born in Virginia and served in the
United States army on the frontier fighting Indians, where he became noted
for his daring. In 1861 he was appointed by Lincoln a captain in the United
States cavalry, but he declined the appointment to enter the Confederate service.
He was the most dashing officer in the Confederate cavalry. He fell at
Yellow Tavern, May, 1864.