FROM Gettysburg to Appomattox; from
the zenith of assurance to the nadir of despair ; from the compact ranks,
boundless confidence, and exultant hopes of as proud and puissant an army as
was ever marshalled— to the shattered remnants, withered hopes, and final
surrender of that army—such is the track to be followed describing the
Confederacy's declining fortunes and ultimate death. No picture can be drawn by
human hand vivid enough to portray the varying hues, the spasmodic changes, the
rapidly gathering shadows of the scenes embraced in the culminating period of
the great struggle.
A brief analysis of the reasons for General Lee's crossing
of the Potomac is now in order. In the logistics of defensive war, offensive
movements are often the wisest strategy. Voltaire has somewhere remarked that
"to subsist one's army at the expense of the enemy, to advance on their own
ground and force them to retrace their steps—thus rendering strength
useless by skill—is regarded as one of the masterpieces of military art."
It would be difficult to group together words more concisely
and clearly descriptive of General Lee's purposes in crossing the Potomac, both
in '62 and '63. It must be added, however, that while the movement into
Maryland in 1862, and into Pennsylvania in 1863, were each defensive in design,
they differed in some particulars as to the immediate object which General Lee
hoped to accomplish. Each sought to force the Union army to retrace its steps;
" each sought to render strength useless by skill " ; but in 1862 there was not
so grave a necessity for subsisting his army on Union soil as in 1863. The
movement into Maryland was of course a more direct threat upon Washington.
Besides, at that period there was still a prevalent belief among Southern
leaders that Southern sentiment was strong in Maryland, and that an important
victory within her borders might convert the Confederate camps into
recruiting-stations, and add materially to the strength of Lee's army. But the
Confederate graves which were dug in Maryland's soil vastly outnumbered the
Confederate soldiers recruited from her citizens. It would be idle to speculate
as to what might have been the effect of a decisive victory by Lee's forces at
South Mountain, or Boonsboro, or Antietam (Sharpsburg). The poignancy of
disappointment at the small number recruited for our army was intensified by
the recognition of the splendid fighting qualities of Maryland soldiers who had
previously joined us.
The movement into Pennsylvania in 1863 was also, in part at
least, a recruiting expedition. We did not expect, it is true, to gather
soldiers for our ranks, but beeves for our commissary. For more than two years
the effort to fill the ranks of the Southern armies had alarmingly reduced the
ranks of Southern producers, with no appreciable diminution in the number of
consumers. Indeed, the consumers had materially increased ; for while we were
not then seeking to encourage Northern immigration, we had a large number of
visitors from that and other sections, who were exploring the country under
such efficient guides as McClellan, Hooker, Grant, Sherman, Thomas, and others.
We had, therefore, much need of borrowing supplies from our neighbors beyond
the Potomac. The bill of fare of some commands was already very short and by no
means appetizing. General Ewell, having exhausted the contents of his larder,
thought to replenish it from the surrounding country by a personal raid, and
returned after a long and dusty hunt with a venerable ox, which would not have
made a morsel, on division, for one per cent of his command. Ewell's ox had on
him, however, that peculiar quality of flesh which is essential in feeding an
army on short rations. It was durable—irreducible.
The whole country in the Wilderness and around
Chancellorsville, where both Hooker's and Lee's armies had done some foraging,
and thence to the Potomac, was well-nigh exhausted. This was true, also, of a
large portion of the Piedmont region and of the Valley of Virginia beyond the
Blue Ridge Mountains ; while the lower valley, along the Shenandoah, had long
been the beaten track and alternate camping-ground of both Confederate and
Union armies. It had contributed to the support of both armies until it could
contribute no more. How to subsist, therefore, was becoming a serious question.
The hungry hosts of Israel did not look across Jordan to the vine-clad hills of
Canaan with more longing eyes than did Lee's braves contemplate the yellow
grain-fields of Pennsylvania beyond the Potomac.
Again, to defend Richmond by threatening Washington and
Baltimore and Philadelphia was perhaps the most promising purpose of the
Confederate invasion Incidentally, it was hoped that a defeat of the Union army
in territory so contiguous to these great cities would send gold to such a
premium as to cause financial panic in the commercial centres, and induce the
great business interests to demand that the war should cease. But the hoped-for
victory, with its persuasive influence, did not materialize. Indeed, the
presence of Lee's army in Pennsylvania seemed to arouse the North to still
greater efforts, as the presence of the Union armies in the South had
intensified, if possible, the decision of her people to resist to the last
extremity.
The appearance of my troops on the flank of General Meade's
army during the battle of Gettysburg was not our first approach into that
little city which was to become the turning-point in the Confederacy's
fortunes. Having been detached from General Lee's army, my brigade had, some
days prior to the great battle, passed through Gettysburg on our march to the
Susquehanna. Upon those now historic hills I had met a small force of Union
soldiers' and had there fought a diminutive battle when the armies of both
Meade and Lee were many miles away. When, therefore, my command—which
penetrated farther, I believe, than any other Confederate infantry into the
heart of Pennsylvania—was recalled from the banks of the Susquehanna to
take part in the prolonged and stupendous struggle, I expressed to my staff the
opinion that if the battle should be fought at Gettysburg, the army which held
the heights would probably be the victor. The insignificant encounter I had had
on those hills impressed their commanding importance upon me as nothing else
could have done.
The Valley of Pennsylvania, through which my command marched
from Gettysburg to Wrightsville on the Susquehanna, awakened the most
conflicting emotions. It was delightful to look upon such a scene of universal
thrift and plenty. Its broad grain-fields, clad in golden garb, were waving
their welcome to the reapers and binders. Some fields were already dotted over
with harvested shocks. The huge barns on the highest grounds meant to my
sore-footed marchers a mount, a ride, and a rest on broad-backed horses. On
every side, as far as our alert vision could reach, all aspects and conditions
conspired to make this fertile and carefully tilled region a panorama both
interesting and enchanting. It was a type of the fair and fertile Valley of
Virginia at its best, before it became the highway of armies and the ravages of
war had left it wasted and bare. This melancholy contrast between these
charming districts, so similar in other respects, brought to our Southern
sensibilities a touch of sadness. In both these lovely valleys were the big red
barns, representing in their silent dignity the independence of their owners.
In both were the old-fashioned brick or stone mansions, differing in style of
architecture and surroundings as Teutonic manners and tastes differ from those
of the Cavalier. In both were the broad green meadows with luxuriant grasses
and crystal springs.
One of these springs impressed itself on my memory by its
great beauty and the unique uses to which its owner had put it. He was a staid
and laborious farmer of German descent. With an eye to utility, as well as to
the health and convenience of his household, he had built his dining-room
immediately over this fountain gushing from a cleft in an underlying rock. My
camp for the night was near by, and I accepted his invitation to breakfast with
him. As I entered the quaint room, one half floored with smooth limestone, and
the other half covered with limpid water bubbling clear and pure from the bosom
of Mother Earth, my amazement at the singular design was perhaps less
pronounced than the sensation of rest which it produced. For many days we had
been marching on the dusty turnpikes, under a broiling sun, and it is easier to
imagine than to describe the feeling of relief and repose which came over me as
we sat in that cool room, with a hot breakfast served from one side, while from
the other the frugal housewife dipped cold milk and cream from immense jars
standing neck-deep in water.
We entered the city of York on Sunday morning. A committee,
composed of the mayor and prominent citizens, met my command on the main pike
before we reached the corporate limits, their object being to make a peaceable
surrender and ask for protection to life and property. They returned, I think,
with a feeling of assured safety. The church bells were ringing, and the
streets were filled with well-dressed people. The appearance of these
church-going men, women, and children, in their Sunday attire, strangely
contrasted with that of my marching soldiers. Begrimed as we were from head to
foot with the impalpable gray powder which rose in dense columns from the
macadamized pikes and settled in sheets on men, horses, and wagons, it is no
wonder that many of York's inhabitants were terror-stricken as they looked upon
us. We had been compelled on these forced marches to leave baggage-wagons
behind us, and there was no possibility of a change of clothing, and no time
for brushing uniforms or washing the disfiguring dust from faces, hair, or
beard. All these were of the same hideous hue. The grotesque aspect of my
troops was accentuated here and there, too, by barefooted men mounted double
upon huge horses with shaggy manes and long fetlocks. Confederate pride, to say
nothing of Southern gallantry, was subjected to the sorest trial by the
consternation produced among the ladies of York. In my eagerness to relieve the
citizens from all apprehension, I lost sight of the fact that this turnpike
powder was no respecter of persons, but that it enveloped all
alike—officers as well as privates. Had I realized the wish of Burns, that
some power would "the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us," I might
have avoided the slight panic created by my effort to allay a larger one.
Halting on the main street, where the sidewalks were densely packed, I rode a
few rods in advance of my troops, in order to speak to the people from my
horse. As I checked him and turned my full dust-begrimed face upon a bevy of
young ladies very near me, a cry of alarm came from their midst; but after a
few words of assurance from me, quiet and apparent confidence were restored. I
assured these ladies that the troops behind me, though ill-clad and
travel-stained, were good men and brave; that beneath their rough exteriors
were hearts as loyal to women as ever beat in the breasts of honorable men;
that their own experience and the experience of their mothers, wives, and
sisters at home had taught them how painful must be the sight of a hostile army
in their town ; that under the orders of the Confederate commander-in-chief
both private property and non-combatants were safe; that the spirit of
vengeance and of rapine had no place in the bosoms of these dust-covered but
knightly men ; and I closed by pledging to York the head of any soldier under
my command who destroyed private property, disturbed the repose of a single
home, or insulted a woman.
As we moved along the street after this episode, a little
girl, probably twelve years of age, ran up to my horse and handed me a large
bouquet of flowers, in the centre of which was a note, in delicate handwriting,
purporting to give the numbers and describe the position of the Union forces of
Wrightsville, toward which I was advancing. I carefully read and reread this
strange note. It bore no signature, and contained no assurance of sympathy for
the Southern cause, but it was so terse and explicit in its terms as to compel
my confidence. The second day we were in front of Wrightsville, and from the
high ridge on which this note suggested that I halt and examine the position of
the Union troops, I eagerly scanned the prospect with my field-glasses, in
order to verify the truth of the mysterious communication or detect its
misrepresentations. There, in full view before us, was the town, just as
described, nestling on the banks of the Susquehanna. There was the blue line of
soldiers guarding the approach, drawn up, as indicated, along an intervening
ridge and across the pike. There was the long bridge spanning the Susquehanna
and connecting the town with Columbia on the other bank. Most important of all,
there was the deep gorge or ravine running off to the right and extending
around the left flank of the Federal line and to the river below the bridge.
Not an inaccurate detail in that note could be discovered. I did not hesitate,
therefore, to adopt its suggestion of moving down the gorge in order to throw
my command on the flank, or possibly in the rear, of the Union troops and force
them to a rapid retreat or surrender. The result of this movement vindicated
the strategic wisdom of my unknown and—judging by the handwriting—
woman correspondent, whose note was none the less martial because embedded in
roses, and whose evident genius for war, had occasion offered, might have made
her a captain equal to Catherine.
As I have intimated, the orders from General Lee for the
protection of private property and persons were of the most stringent
character. Guided by these instructions and by my own impulses, I resolved to
leave no ruins along the line of my march through Pennsylvania ; no marks of a
more enduring character than the tracks of my soldiers along its superb pikes.
I cannot be mistaken in the opinion that the citizens who then lived and still
live on these highways will bear me out in the assertion that we marched into
that delightful region, and then marched out of it, without leaving any scars
to mar its beauty or lessen its value. Perhaps I ought to record two
insignificant exceptions.
Going into camp in an open country and after dark, it was
ascertained that there was no wood to be had for even the limited amount of
necessary cooking, and I was appealed to by the men for permission to use a few
rails from an old-fashioned fence near the camp. I agreed that they might take
the top layer of rails, as the fence would still be high enough to answer the
farmer's purpose. When morning came the fence had nearly all disappeared, and
each man declared that he had taken only the top rail! The authorized (?)
destruction of that fence is not difficult to understand! It was a case of
adherence to the letter and neglect of the spirit; but there was no alternative
except good-naturedly to admit that my men had gotten the better of me that
time.
The other case of insignificant damage inflicted by our
presence in the Valley of Pennsylvania was the application of the Confederate
"conscript law" in drafting Pennsylvania horses into service. That law was
passed by the Confederate Congress in order to call into our ranks able-bodied
men at the South, but my soldiers seemed to think that it might be equally
serviceable for the ingathering of able-bodied horses at the North. The trouble
was that most of these horses had fled the country or were in hiding, and the
owners of the few that were left were not submissive to Southern authority. One
of these owners, who, I believe, had not many years before left his fatherland
and was not an expert in the use of English, attempted to save his favorite
animal by a verbal combat with my quartermaster. That officer, however, failing
to understand him, sent him to me. The " Pennsylvania Dutchman," as his class
was known in the Valley, was soon firing at me his broken English, and opened
his argument with the announcement: "You be's got my mare." I replied, "It is
not at all improbable, my friend, that I have your mare, but the game we are
now playing is what was called in my boyhood 'tit for tat' " ; and I endeavored
to explain to him that the country was at war, that at the South horses were
being taken by the Union soldiers, and that I was trying on a small scale to
balance accounts. I flattered myself that this statement of the situation would
settle the matter; but the explanation was far more satisfactory to myself than
to him. He insisted that I had not paid for his mare. I at once offered to pay
him—in Confederate money; I had no other. This he indignantly refused.
Finally I offered to give him a written order for the price of his mare on the
President of the United States. This offer set him to thinking. He was quite
disposed to accept it, but, like a dim ray of starlight through a rift in the
clouds at night, there gradually dawned on him the thought that there might
possibly be some question as to my authority for drawing on the President. The
suggestion of this doubt exhausted his patience, and in his righteous
exasperation, like his great countryman hurling the inkstand at the devil, he
pounded me with expletives in so furious a style that, although I could not
interpret them into English, there was no difficulty in comprehending their
meaning. The words which I did catch and understand showed that he was making a
comparison of values between his mare and his "t'ree vifes." The climax of his
argument was in these words: "I've been married, sir, t'ree times, and I vood
not geef dot mare for all dose voomans."
With so sincere an admirer of woman as myself such an
argument could scarcely be recognized as forcible; but I was also a great lover
of fine horses, and this poor fellow's distress at the loss of his favorite
mare was so genuine and acute that I finally yielded to his entreaties and had
her delivered to him.
When General Early reached York a few days later, he entered
into some business negotiations with the officials and prominent citizens of
that city. I was not advised as to the exact character of those negotiations,
but it was rumored through that portion of the army at the time that General
Early wanted to borrow, or secure in some other way, for the use of his troops,
a certain amount of greenbacks, and that he succeeded in making the
arrangement. I learned afterward that the only promise to repay, like that of
the Confederate notes, was at some date subsequent to the establishment of
Southern independence.
It will be remembered that the note concealed in the flowers
handed me at York had indicated a ravine down which I could move, reaching the
river not far from the bridge. As my orders were not restricted, except to
direct me to cross the Susquehanna, if possible, my immediate object was to
move rapidly down that ravine to the river, then along its right bank to the
bridge, seize it, and cross to the Columbia side. Once across, I intended to
mount my men, if practicable, so as to pass rapidly through Lancaster in the
direction of Philadelphia, and thus compel General Meade to send a portion of
his army to the defence of that city. This programme was defeated, first, by
the burning of the bridge, and second, by the imminent prospect of battle near
Gettysburg. The Union troops stationed at Wrightsville had, after their retreat
across it, fired the bridge which I had hoped to secure, and had then stood in
battle line on the opposite shore. With great energy my men labored to save the
bridge. I called on the citizens of Wrightsville for buckets and pails, but
none were to be found. There was, however, no lack of buckets and pails a
little later, when the town was on fire. The bridge might burn, for that
incommoded, at the time, only the impatient Confederates, and these
Pennsylvanians were not in sympathy with my expedition, nor anxious to
facilitate the movement of such unwelcome visitors. But when the burning bridge
fired the lumber-yards on the river's banks, and the burning lumber fired the
town, buckets and tubs and pails and pans innumerable came from their
hiding-places, until it seemed that, had the whole of Lee's army been present,
I could have armed them with these implements to fight the rapidly spreading
flames. My men labored as earnestly and bravely to save the town as they did to
save the bridge. In the absence of fire-engines or other appliances, the only
chance to arrest the progress of the flames was to form my men around the
burning district, with the flank resting on the river's edge, and pass rapidly
from hand to hand the pails of water. Thus, and thus only, was the advancing,
raging fire met, and at a late hour of the night checked and conquered. There
was one point especially at which my soldiers combated the fire's progress with
immense energy, and with great difficulty saved an attractive home from
burning. It chanced to be the home of one of the most superb women it was my
fortune to meet during the four years of war. She was Mrs. L. L. Rewalt, to
whom I refer in my lecture, " The Last Days of the Confederacy," as the heroine
of the Susquehanna. I met Mrs. Rewalt the morning after the fire had been
checked. She had witnessed the furious combat with the flames around her home,
and was unwilling that those men should depart without receiving some token of
appreciation from her. She was not wealthy, and could not entertain my whole
command, but she was blessed with an abundance of those far nobler riches of
brain and heart which are the essential glories of exalted womanhood.
Accompanied by an attendant, and at a late hour of the night, she sought me, in
the confusion which followed the destructive fire, to express her gratitude to
the soldiers of my command and to inquire how long we would remain in
Wrightsville. On learning that the village would be relieved of our presence at
an early hour the following morning, she insisted that I should bring with me
to breakfast at her house as many as could find places in her dining-room. She
would take no excuse, not even the nervous condition in which the excitement of
the previous hours had left her. At a bountifully supplied table in the early
morning sat this modest, cultured woman, surrounded by soldiers in their worn,
gray uniforms. The welcome she gave us was so gracious, she was so
self-possessed, so calm and kind, that I found myself in an inquiring state of
mind as to whether her sympathies were with the Northern or Southern side in
the pending war. Cautiously, but with sufficient clearness to indicate to her
my object, I ventured some remarks which she could not well ignore and which
she instantly saw were intended to evoke some declaration upon the subject. She
was too brave to evade it, too self-poised to be confused by it, and too firmly
fixed in her convictions to hesitate as to the answer. With no one present
except Confederate soldiers who were her guests, she replied, without a quiver
in her voice, but with womanly gentleness: " General Gordon, I fully comprehend
you, and it is due to myself that I candidly tell you that I am a Union woman.
I cannot afford to be misunderstood, nor to have you misinterpret this simple
courtesy. You and your soldiers last night saved my home from burning, and I
was unwilling that you should go away without receiving some token of my
appreciation. I must tell you' however, that, with my assent and approval, my
husband is a soldier in the Union army, and my constant prayer to Heaven is
that our cause may triumph and the Union be saved."
No Confederate left that room without a feeling of profound
respect, of unqualified admiration, for that brave and worthy woman. No
Southern soldier, no true Southern man, who reads this account will fail to
render to her a like tribute of appreciation. The spirit of every high-souled
Southerner was made to thrill over and over again at the evidence around him of
the more than Spartan courage, the self-sacrifices and devotion, of Southern
women, at every stage and through every trial of the war, as from first to
last, they hurried to the front, their brothers and fathers, their husbands and
sons. No Southern man can ever forget the words of cheer that came from these
heroic women's lips, and their encouragement to hope and fight on in the midst
of despair. When I met Mrs. Rewalt in Wrightsville, the parting with my own
mother was still fresh in my memory. Nothing short of death's hand can ever
obliterate from my heart the impression of that parting. Holding me in her
arms, her heart almost bursting with anguish, and the tears running down her
cheeks, she asked God to take care of me, and then said: " Go, my son; I shall
perhaps never see you again, but I commit you freely to the service of your
country." I had witnessed, as all Southern soldiers had witnessed, the
ever-increasing consecration of those women to their cause. No language can
fitly describe their saintly spirit of martyrdom, which grew stronger and rose
higher when all other eyes could see the inevitable end of the terrific
struggle slowly but surely approaching.
Returning from the banks of the Susquehanna, and meeting at
Gettysburg, July 1, 1863, the advance of Lee's forces, my command was thrown
quickly and squarely on the right flank of the Union army. A more timely
arrival never occurred. The battle had been raging for four or five hours. The
Confederate General Archer, with a large portion of his brigade, had been
captured. Heth and Scales, Confederate generals, had been wounded. The ranking
Union commander on the field, General Reynolds, had been killed, and Hancock
was assigned to command. The battle, upon the issue of which hung, perhaps, the
fate of the Confederacy, was in full blast. The Union forces, at first driven
back, now reënforced, were again advancing and pressing back Lee's left
and threatening to envelop it. The Confederates were stubbornly contesting
every foot of ground, but the Southern left was slowly yielding. A few moments
more and the day's battle might have been ended by the complete turning of
Lee's flank. I was ordered to move at once to the aid of the heavily pressed
Confederates. With a ringing yell, my command rushed upon the line posted to
protect the Union right. Here occurred a hand-to-hand struggle. That protecting
Union line once broken left my command not only on the right flank, but
obliquely in rear of it. Any troops that were ever marshalled would, under like
conditions, have been as surely and swiftly shattered. There was no alternative
for Howard's men except to break and fly, or to throw down their arms and
surrender. Under the concentrated fire from front and hank, the marvel is that
any escaped. In the midst of the wild disorder in his ranks, and through a
storm of bullets, a Union officer was seeking to rally his men for a final
stand. He, too, went down, pierced by a Minié ball. Riding forward with
my rapidly advancing lines, I discovered that brave officer lying upon his
back, with the July sun pouring its rays into his pale face. He was surrounded
by the Union dead, and his own life seemed to be rapidly ebbing out. Quickly
dismounting and lifting his head, I gave him water from my canteen, asked his
name and the character of his wounds. He was Major-General Francis C. Barlow,
of New York, and of Howard's corps. The ball had entered his body in front and
passed out near the spinal cord, paralyzing him in legs and arms. Neither of us
had the remotest thought that he could possibly survive many hours. I summoned
several soldiers who were looking after the wounded, and directed them to place
him upon a litter and carry him to the shade in the rear. Before parting, he
asked me to take from his pocket a package of letters and destroy them. They
were from his wife. He had but one request to make of me. That request was that
if I should live to the end of the war and should ever meet Mrs. Barlow, I
would tell her of our meeting on the field of Gettysburg and of his thoughts of
her in his last moments. He wished me to assure her that he died doing his duty
at the front, that he was willing to give his life for his country, and that
his deepest regret was that he must die without looking upon her face again. I
learned that Mrs. Barlow was with the Union army, and near the battle-field.
When it is remembered how closely Mrs. Gordon followed me, it will not be
difficult to realize that my sympathies were especially stirred by the
announcement that his wife was so near him. Passing through the day's battle
unhurt, I despatched at its close, under flag of truce, the promised message to
Mrs. Barlow. I assured her that if she wished to come through the lines she
should have safe escort to her husband's side. In the desperate encounters of
the two succeeding days, and the retreat of Lee's army, I thought no more of
Barlow, except to number him with the noble dead of the two armies who had so
gloriously met their fate. The ball, however, had struck no vital point, and
Barlow slowly recovered, though this fact was wholly unknown to me. The
following summer, in battle near Richmond, my kinsman with the same initials,
General J. B. Gordon of North Carolina, was killed. Barlow, who had recovered,
saw the announcement of his death, and entertained no doubt that he was the
Gordon whom he had met on the field of Gettysburg. To me, therefore, Barlow was
dead ; to Barlow, I was dead. Nearly fifteen years passed before either of us
was undeceived. During my second term in the United States Senate, the Hon.
Clarkson Potter, of New York, was a member of the House of Representatives. He
invited me to dinner in Washington to meet a General Barlow who had served in
the Union army. Potter knew nothing of the Gettysburg incident. I had heard
that there was another Barlow in the Union army, and supposed, of course, that
it was this Barlow with whom I was to dine. Barlow had a similar reflection as
to the Gordon he was to meet. Seated at Clarkson Potter's table, I asked
Barlow: " General, are you related to the Barlow who was killed at Gettysburg?"
He replied: "Why, I am the man, sir. Are you related to the Gordon who killed
me?" "I am the man, sir," I responded. No words of mine can convey any
conception of the emotions awakened by those startling announcements. Nothing
short of an actual resurrection from the dead could have amazed either of us
more. Thenceforward, until his untimely death in 1896, the friendship between
us which was born amidst the thunders of Gettysburg was greatly cherished by
both.
No battle of our Civil War—no battle of any war—
more forcibly illustrates the truth that officers at a distance from the field
cannot, with any wisdom, attempt to control the movements of troops actively
engaged. On the first day neither General Early nor General Ewell could
possibly have been fully cognizant of the situation at the time I was ordered
to halt. The whole of that portion of the Union army in my front was in
inextricable confusion and in flight. They were necessarily in flight, for my
troops were upon the flank and rapidly sweeping down the lines. The firing upon
my men had almost ceased. Large bodies of the Union troops were throwing down
their arms and surrendering, because in disorganized and confused masses they
were wholly powerless either to check the movement or return the fire. As far
down the lines as my eye could reach the Union troops were in retreat. Those at
a distance were still resisting, but giving ground, and it was only necessary
for me to press forward in order to insure the same results which invariably
follow such flank movements. In less than half an hour my troops would have
swept up and over those hills, the possession of which was of such momentous
consequence. It is not surprising, with a full realization of the consequences
of a halt, that I should have refused at first to obey the order. Not until the
third or fourth order of the most peremptory character reached me did I obey. I
think I should have risked the consequences of disobedience even then but for
the fact that the order to halt was accompanied with the explanation that
General Lee, who was several miles away, did not wish to give battle at
Gettysburg. It is stated on the highest authority that General Lee said,
sometime before his death, that if Jackson had been there he would have won in
this battle a great and possibly decisive victory.
The Rev. J. William Jones, D.D., writing of this statement
of General Lee's, uses these words: " General Lee made that remark to Professor
James J. White and myself in his office in Lexington one day when we chanced to
go in as he was reading a letter making some inquiries of him about Gettysburg.
He said, with an emphasis that I cannot forget, and bringing his hand down on
the table with a force that made things rattle: 'If I had had Stonewall Jackson
at Gettysburg, I would have won that fight' and a complete victory there would
have given us Washington and Baltimore, if not Philadelphia, and would have
established the independence of the Confederacy.' "
No soldier in a great crisis ever wished more ardently for a
deliverer's hand than I wished for one hour of Jackson when I was ordered to
halt. Had he been there, his quick eye would have caught at a glance the entire
situation, and instead of halting me he would have urged me forward and have
pressed the advantage to the utmost, simply notifying General Lee that the
battle was on and he had decided to occupy the heights. Had General Lee himself
been present this would undoubtedly have been done. General Lee, as he came in
sight of the battle-field that afternoon, sent Colonel Walter H. Taylor, of the
staff (he makes this statement clearly in his book, " Four Years with Lee ''),
with an order to General Ewell to "advance and occupy the heights." General
Ewell replied that he would do so, and afterward explained in his official
report that he did not do so because of the report from General William Smith
that the enemy was advancing on his flank and rear, the supposed enemy turning
out to be General Edward Johnson's Confederate division. Absent as General Lee
necessarily was, and intending to meet General Meade at another point and in
defensive battle, he would still have applauded, when the facts were made
known, the most aggressive movements, though in conflict with his general plan.
From the situation plainly to be seen on the first afternoon, and from facts
that afterward came to light as to the position of the different corps of
General Meade's army, it seems certain that if the Confederates had simply
moved forward, following up the advantages gained and striking the separated
Union commands in succession, the victory would have been Lee's instead of
Meade's. |
