The Campaign of Chancellorsville Part 17

We have taken from the enemy five thousand prisoners, and fifteen colors, captured seven pieces of artillery, and placed hors du combat eighteen thousand of our foe's chosen troops.

We have destroyed his depots filled with vast amounts of stores, damaged his communications, captured prisoners within the fortifications of his capital, and filled his country with fear and consternation.

We have no other regret than that caused by the loss of our brave companions; and in this we are consoled by the conviction that they have fallen in the holiest cause ever submitted to the arbitration of battle.

By command of Major-Gen. Hooker.

S. WILLIAMS, a.s.sistant Adjutant-General.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, May 7, 1863.

With heartfelt gratification, the general commanding expresses to the army his sense of the heroic conduct displayed by officers and men during the arduous operations in which they have just been engaged.

Under trying vicissitudes of heat and storm, you attacked the enemy, strongly intrenched in the depths of a tangled wilderness, and again on the hills of Fredericksburg, fifteen miles distant, and, by the valor that has triumphed on so many fields, forced him once more to seek safety beyond the Rappahannock. While this glorious victory ent.i.tles you to the praise and grat.i.tude of the nation, we are especially called upon to return our grateful thanks to the only Giver of victory, for the signal deliverance He has wrought.

It is therefore earnestly recommended that the troops unite, on Sunday next, in ascribing to the Lord of Hosts the glory due unto His name.

Let us not forget in our rejoicing the brave soldiers who have fallen in defence of their country; and, while we mourn their loss, let us resolve to emulate their n.o.ble example.

The army and the country alike lament the absence for a time of one to whose bravery, energy, and skill they are so much indebted for success.

The following letter from the President of the Confederate States is communicated to the army as an expression of his appreciation of their success:-

"I have received your despatch, and reverently unite with you in giving praise to G.o.d for the success with which he has crowned our arms. In the name of the people, I offer my cordial thanks to yourself and the troops under your command, for this addition to the unprecedented series of great victories which our army has achieved. The universal rejoicing produced by this happy result will be mingled with a general regret for the good and the brave who are numbered among the killed and the wounded."

R. E. LEE, General.

The following is equally characteristic:-

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, CAMP NEAR FALMOUTH, VA., May 13, 1863.

To his Excellency, President of the United States.

Is it asking too much to inquire your opinion of my Order No. 49? If so, do not answer me.

Jackson is dead, and Lee beats McClellan in his untruthful bulletins.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOSEPH HOOKER, Major-General Commanding.

x.x.xV. OPERATIONS OF THE CAVALRY CORPS.

As was briefly related in the early part of this work, Hooker issued orders to Gen. Stoneman, the commanding-officer of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, on the 12th of April, to move the succeeding day for the purpose of cutting the communications of the enemy. The order read as follows:-

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, CAMP NEAR FALMOUTH, VA., April 12, 1863.

Commanding Officer, Cavalry Corps.

I am directed by the major-general commanding to inform you that you will march at seven o'clock A.M., on the 13th inst., with all your available force, except one brigade, for the purpose of turning the enemy's position on his left, and of throwing your command between him and Richmond, isolating him from his supplies, checking his retreat, and inflicting on him every possible injury which will tend to his discomfiture and defeat.

To accomplish this, the general suggests that you ascend the Rappahannock by the different routes, keeping well out of the view of the enemy, and throwing out well to the front and flank small parties to mask your movement, and to cut off all communication with the enemy, by the people in their interest living on this side of the river. To divert suspicion it may not be amiss to have word given out that you are in pursuit of Jones's guerillas, as they are operating extensively in the Shenandoah Valley, in the direction of Winchester. He further suggests that you select for your place of crossing the Rappahannock, some point to the west of the Alexandria and Orange Railroad, which can only be determined by the circ.u.mstances as they are found on the arrival of your advance.

In the vicinity of Culpeper, you will be likely to run against Fitz Hugh Lee's brigade of cavalry, consisting of about two thousand men, which it is expected you will be able to disperse and destroy without delay to your advance, or detriment to any considerable number of your command.

At Gordonsville, the enemy have a small provost-guard of infantry, which it is expected you will destroy, if it can be done without delaying your forward movement. From there it is expected that you will push forward to the Aquia and Richmond Railroad, somewhere in the vicinity of Saxton's Junction, destroying along your whole route the railroad-bridges, trains of cars, depots of provisions, lines of telegraphic communication, etc. The general directs that you go prepared with all the means necessary to accomplish this work effectually.

As the line of the railroad from Aquia to Richmond presents the shortest one for the enemy to retire on, it is most probable that he will avail himself of it, and the usually travelled highways on each side of it, for this purpose; in which event you will select the strongest positions, such as the banks of streams, commanding heights, etc., in order to check or prevent it; and, if unsuccessful, you will fall upon his flanks, attack his artillery and trains, and hara.s.s him until he is exhausted and out of supplies.

Moments of delay will be hours and days to the army in pursuit.

If the enemy should retire by Culpeper and Gordonsville, you will endeavor to hold your force in his front, and hara.s.s him day and night, on the march, and in camp, unceasingly. If you cannot cut off from his column large slices, the general desires that you will not fail to take small ones. Let your watchword be Fight, and let all your orders be Fight, Fight, FIGHT; bearing in mind that time is as valuable to the general as the rebel carca.s.ses. It is not in the power of the rebels to oppose you with more than five thousand sabres, and those badly mounted, and, after they leave Culpeper, without forage and rations. Keep them from Richmond, and sooner or later they must fall into our hands.

The general desires you to understand that he considers the primary object of your movement the cutting of the enemy's communication with Richmond by the Fredericksburg route, checking his retreat over those lines; and he wishes to make every thing subservient to that object. He desires that you will keep yourself informed of the enemy's whereabouts, and attack him wherever you find him.

If, in your operations, an opportunity should present itself for you to detach a force to Charlottesville, which is almost unguarded, and destroy depots of supplies said to be there, or along the line of the Aquia Railroad, in the direction of Richmond, to destroy bridges, etc., or the crossings of the Pamunkey, in the direction of West Point, destroying the ferries, felling trees to prevent or check the crossing, they will all greatly contribute to our complete success.

You may rely upon the general's being in communication with you before your supplies are exhausted.

Let him hear from you as often as necessary and practicable.

A brigade of infantry will march to-morrow morning at eight o'clock for Kelly's Ford, with one battery, and a regiment to the United-States Ford and Banks's Ford, to threaten and hold those places.

It devolves upon you, general, to take the initiative in the forward movement of this grand army; and on you and your n.o.ble command must depend, in a great measure, the extent and brilliancy of our success. Bear in mind that celerity, audacity, and resolution are every thing in war, and especially is it the case with the command you have, and the enterprise on which you are about to embark.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, S. WILLIAMS, a.s.sistant Adjutant-General.

In pursuance of which order, the corps broke camp near Belle-Plain, and encamped on the evening of April 13, beyond Morrisville. On April 14, it moved down to the vicinity of the bridge at Rappahannock station, which, after a slight skirmish by Gregg, was taken possession of. Beverly Ford, some miles above, was also examined, and the north bank occupied. Preparations for an early move on the morning of the 14th were made. Gen. Buford, commanding the cavalry reserve, remained at Kelly's Ford during the 14th, in order to draw the attention of the Confederates to that point, and indulged in a little artillery skirmish.

During the night a heavy rain set in, and before morning the river was no longer fordable by the artillery and pack-trains.

As is well known, it takes no great rainfall to swell the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers, and their tributaries, to the proportion of torrents. Nor are more than a few hours necessary to raise these rivers and runs, and even the dry ravines, to an impa.s.sable depth. Gregg mentions in his report that a small stream, which, on the 13th, could be crossed at one step, had swelled to such a flood, that when, on the 15th, a regiment was obliged to cross it, there were lost one man and two horses by drowning.

So that, after crossing one division, Stoneman found that it would probably be isolated on account of the impracticability of crossing the rest of the corps, and consequently ordered its immediate return. And this was accomplished none too soon, by swimming the horses.

On reporting all these facts to Hooker, Stoneman was ordered to go into camp, where he remained, along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, until the 27th.

The following letter is of interest, in this connection, as showing how keen Mr. Lincoln's intuitions occasionally were.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D.C., April 15, 1863.

MAJOR-GEN. HOOKER.

It is now 10.15 P.M. An hour ago I received your letter of this morning, and a few moments later your despatch of this evening. The latter gives me considerable uneasiness. The rain and mud, of course, were to be calculated upon. Gen. S. is not moving rapidly enough to make the expedition come to anything. He has now been out three days, two of which were unusually fair weather, and all three without hinderance from the enemy, and yet he is not twenty-five miles from where he started. To reach his point he still has sixty to go, another river (the Rapidan) to cross; and will he be hindered by the enemy? By arithmetic, how many days will it take him to do it? I do not know that any better can be done, but I greatly fear it is another failure already. Write me often. I am very anxious.

Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

On the 28th, Stoneman received the following additional orders:-

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, MORRISVILLE, VA., April 28, 1863.

Commanding Officer Cavalry Corps.

I am directed by the major-general commanding to inform you that the instructions communicated for your government on the 12th instant, are so far modified as to require you to cross the Rappahannock at such points as you may determine between Kelly's and Rappahannock Fords, and for a portion of your force to move in the direction of Racc.o.o.n Ford and Louisa Court House, while the remainder is engaged carrying into execution that part of your original instructions, which relates to the enemy's forces and positions on the line of the Alexandria and Orange Railroad, and the line itself; the operations of this column to be considered as masking the column which is directed to move, by forced marches, to strike and destroy the line of the Aquia and Richmond Railroad.

You are further directed to determine on some point for the columns to unite; and it is recommended that it be on the Pamunkey, or near that line, as you will then be in position with your full force to cut off the retreat of the enemy by his shortest line. In all other respects your instructions, as before referred to, will remain the same.

You will direct all your force to cross to-night, or, if that shall not be practicable, to be brought to the river, and have it all thrown over before eight o'clock to-morrow morning. If the fords should be too deep for your pack-animals and artillery, they will be crossed over the bridge at Kelly's Ford.

You will please furnish the officers in command of these two columns with a copy of this, and of your original instructions.