1863.] BRAVE LIEUTENANT PAINE. 353 Sedgwick with the purpose of cutting him off from the river, but though he gained some advantage, Sedgwick succeeded, during the night, in getting his army across the Rappahannock at Banks's Ford. Having thus rid himself of Sedgwick in his rear, Lee moved once more to attack Hooker, but a heavy rainstorm on Tuesday delayed his artillery. On Wednesday morning he advanced to attack, but his enemy had gone. During the night of Tuesday, Hooker had silently crossed the river, the bridges having been covered with straw and earth to deaden the noise of the artillery and the wagons, and the Confederates were left in possession of the field of Chancellorsville, with all the Union killed and wounded, fourteen pieces of artillery, and nearly twenty thousand stand of small-arms. The Union loss, including prisoners, was more than seventeen thousand men; that of the Confederates about twelve thousand. In the meantime Stoneman had succeeded in making his raid in the rear of Lee's army. Though delayed at first by stormy weather and the rise of the river, he finally succeeded in crossing (April 27), and rode to within a few miles of Richmond, destroying much property, but the expedition was of very little. military use, for the Confederates repaired the railroads at once. A very pleasing story connected with Stoneman's raid is that of the capture and release of Lieutenant Paine of the Union cavalry. He had command of the advance, and getting a considerable distance from the main body was captured with all his men by a superior force of Confederate cavalry. The prisoners were hurried away as fast as possible to get them away from Stoneman, who was rapidly advancing, and in crossing a deep stream Lieutenant Henry, the commander of the Confederate force, was swept off his horse. As none of his men seemed willing to try to save him, Lieutenant Paine sprang off his horse, and seizing the drowning man by the collar swam ashore with him, thus saving his life. Lieutenant Paine was taken to Richmond and confined with the rest of the prisoners; but the story of his gallant deed having been made known to General Fitz Hugh Lee, he wrote a statement of it to General Winder, the Provost-Marshal of Richmond, and Lieutenant Paine was at once released and sent to Washington, without even being asked to give his parole. Shortly afterward Lieutenant Henry was captured and taken to Washington, and Lieutenant Paine had then the pleasure of showing him many acts of kindness. CHAPTER XXX. GETTYSBURG. CONFEDERATE HOPES.-NAPOLEON AND MEXICO.-ANOTHER INVASION OF THE NORTH.-THE TWO ARMIES.-STUART'S REVIEW.-EWELL SURPRISES MILROY.-THE POTOMAC CROSSED.PENNSYLVANIA IN A PANIC.-HOOKER FOLLOWS LEE.-MEADE IN COMMAND. THE EYES OF AN ARMY.-GETTYSBURG.-THE FIRST DAY'S FIGHT.-DEATH OF REYNOLDS.-HANCOCK TO THE FRONT. THE SECOND DAY'S FIGHT.-LITTLE ROUND TOP.-EWELL ON CULP'S HILL. -THE THIRD DAY'S FIGHT.-A GRAND BOMBARDMENT.-PICKETT AND HIS VIRGINIANS.-A DREADFUL STRUGGLE.-VICTORY FOR THE UNION.-A TERRIBLE RETREAT.-WASTED AMMUNITION.-OLD JOHN BURNS.-JENNY WADE.-THE NEWS IN RICHMOND.-MEADE FOLLOWS LEE.-WINTER QUARTERS. HE Confederates were greatly encouraged by their success at Chancellorsville, notwithstanding the loss of Jackson. They had now beaten the Army of the Potomac in two great battles, and Richmond seemed to be safe for at least another year. In the West too their arms were successful: Vicksburg and Port Hudson still held out against Grant and Banks, Bragg was keeping Rosecrans in check at Chattanooga, and Galveston had been retaken. Good news too came from Europe, where the friends of the Confederacy were in hope of soon securing its recognition as an independent government by England and France. The French army which had invaded Mexico in 1862 was then marching on the capital. The Emperor Napoleon III., believing that the power of the United States would be broken by the civil war, had thought this a good chance to secure many advantages for France. If the great republic could be divided and a strong empire established on the Gulf of Mexico, there might come in time an opportunity for France to recover Louisiana and the valley of the Mississippi, which had been sold by Napoleon I. The Confederate leaders welcomed this invasion of a sister republic, for they hoped it would insure their independence, and they were ready to offer the Emperor almost anything to secure his friendship and aid. Napoleon tried in vain to get Great Britain to join him in an offer to mediate-that is, to try to bring about a settlement-between the North and the South. The government of Great Britain refused, rather from caution than from any love for the United States. to act with him, and in the beginning of 1863 (January 1863.] SECOND INVASION OF THE NORTH. 355 9) Napoleon offered alone to mediate between the parties, but the United States government declined and refused to permit any foreign interference in the quarrel. While the Confederate hopes were thus raised, the people of the free States were much troubled in mind and very anxious about the result of the war, the end of which seemed to be further off than ever. A large party had grown up in the North who were for peace at any price, even at the cost of losing the Southern States; and they had many sympathizers in the army, a large part of which had been opposed to the Emancipation Proclamation. The Confederate leaders, believing that this feeling was stronger than it really was, and hoping to get some aid from those who thus differed from the Union government about the way the war should be carried on, determined to cross the Potomac and to invade the North once more. the Union army could be defeated in a great battle in Maryland or Pennsylvania, so strong a feeling might be stirred up in the North for peace and in Europe in favor of the victorious Confederacy that independence might be won. If As soon as this movement was decided upon, active preparations were made for the campaign. The army was reorganized and divided into three corps. General Longstreet was recalled from North Carolina, where he had been acting since the beginning of the year, and given command of the first corps, while General Ewell was given the second and A. P. Hill the third corps. Lee's entire force numbered about seventy thousand men, all of whom had been hardened to military life and whose experience in their conflicts with the Union army had taught them to believe that they could not be conquered. Hooker's force, on the contrary, had been so much reduced by the ending of the time of service of many of the volunteers, that it numbered scarcely more than that of the Confederates; and it had met with so many reverses and had had so many changes of commanders that the men had lost confidence both in themselves and in their generals. Early in June, Lee sent the corps of Longstreet and Ewell to Culpepper Court-House, leaving that of Hill behind the works at Fredericksburg. Hooker was deceived by this, but in a few days he found out that the enemy was moving. Lee's cavalry, under Stuart, had a grand review in the plain east of Culpepper, which was attended by ladies from all the country around. Stuart, on his iron-gray horse, nearly covered with flowers by his fair admirers, watched the squadrons as they charged, amid the thunder of cannon and the music of bugles. At night there were festivities at the Court-house, and the cavalry officers entertained the ladies with a dance. Early the next morning (June 9), the Union cavalry, then under General Pleasonton, crossed the Rappahannock to see what Stuart was doing in that neighborhood. A cavalry fight took place, which lasted nearly all day. Both sides fought with great gallantry, and several prominent officers on both sides were killed. Among GEORGE GORDON MEADE. the badly wounded was General Lee's son, General W. H. F. Lee. Pleasonton, satisfied that the main part of the Confederate army was near Culpepper, fell back to the river and recrossed about dusk, But Hooker was still uncertain whether Lee was moving against Washington or to cross into Maryland, so he moved northward from Fredericksburg to keep between Lee and Washington. Hill then hastened to join Lee. In the meantime Ewell marched into the Shenandoah Valley to Winchester, where he surprised a Union force under General Milroy, and captured four thousand prisoners, twentynine guns, many wagons, and a large quantity of stores. Milroy and the rest of his men escaped to Harper's Ferry, and thence across the Potomac. Ewell pushed on to the river and took possession of the fords. A cavalry force of fifteen hundred crossed over, rode up the Cumberland Valley as far as Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and carried off many cattle and sheep and other supplies. Maryland and Pennsylvania were now in a state of great alarm. Horses, cattle, and sheep were hurried away to places of safety, and valuables hidden to save them from the enemy. Even Philadelphia was in a panic, and money from 1863.] MEADE IN COMMAND. 357 the banks and merchandise and household treasures were sent northward. President Lincoln called for one hundred and twenty thousand volunteers, but they were slow in coming from the States most threatened, while the regiments from New York City were hurried so promptly to the field by Governor Seymour that the Secretary of War publicly thanked him. Ewell's corps crossed the Potomac (June 21 and 22) and marched up the Cumberland Valley to within a few miles of Harrisburg, the State capital. Lee followed with the other corps, and by the 26th of June the whole Confederate army was over the river. Hooker, who had then about one hundred thousand men, also crossed the Potomac at Edward's Ferry and marched to Frederick. There were eleven thousand men on Maryland Heights, opposite Harper's Ferry. General Hooker asked to have these men, who, he said, were of no use there, added to his army; but Halleck, as before in the case of McClellan, refused and said the post must be held. Hooker then asked to be relieved from the command of the army. His request was at once granted, for Halleck did not like him, and General George Gordon Meade, commander of the Fifth Corps, was appointed in his place. General Meade was then forty-eight years old. He had been educated at West Point, and had served in the Florida war and in the war with Mexico. In 1861 he was made a brigadier-general, fought through the Peninsula campaign under McClellan, was wounded at Antietam, and afterward commanded under Pope, Burnside, and Hooker. He was greatly surprised when he was appointed to succeed Hooker, for he had spoken so plainly about that officer's conduct at Chancellorsville that he expected to be arrested. When the order came he was asleep in his tent, for it was late in the night. Supposing that the messenger had the order for his arrest, he asked him if he had brought it. "Strike a light and see," said General Hardie, handing him his commission. He was utterly astonished when he found that not only the command of the army had been given to him, but also that he had been entrusted with power to do as he thought best in the emergency. In moving northward Lee had to keep open his communications with Virginia; for, although he could draw food enough for his army from the country he passed through, all his mili |