Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/349

Rh station," evidently disturbed by the long-staying qualities of Longstreet, which he had now been testing for a number of days, while he himself had been zigzagging around in a vain attempt to find the other portions of Lee's army.

Still desiring to strike a telling blow at Pope before McClellan's main body could reach him, Lee ordered from Richmond the divisions of Walker, McLaws and D. H. Hill, which had been held there for prudential reasons, and sought a conference with Jackson, to which the latter, a little later, called in his chief engineer, Lieut. James Keith Boswell, for information concerning the roads leading behind the Rappahannock mountains to the line of the Manassas Gap railroad and to Pope's rear, with which he was familiar; Lee and Jackson having devised a plan of campaign by which Jackson, free from all encumbrances, should move rapidly to Pope's rear, cut his line of communication at Bristoe, destroy his stores back to Manassas Junction, then fall back to the north of the Warrenton and Washington turnpike, and there await the arrival of Lee with Longstreet, who would remain a day longer on the banks of the Rappahannock for the purpose of detaining and perplexing Pope.

During the night of the 24th, Longstreet's batteries took the place of Jackson opposite Warrenton Springs, as did also his troops, leaving Jackson free to begin his movement on the morning of the 25th, which he did, at an early hour, leaving his baggage train behind and taking with him only ambulances and ordnance wagons. His troops carried in their haversacks scant rations for three days, Jackson confident of being able to abundantly supply them from the enemy's stores. Starting from the vicinity of Jeffersonton, to which he fell back in giving place to Longstreet, Jackson marched for some distance to the northwestward, along the great highway leading to the Valley, by way of Chester gap, and his bronzed veterans were elated with the conviction that they were again bound for the scene of their victories of the preceding spring; but, when a short distance beyond Amissville, their course was turned from the northwest to the northeast, they looked questioningly one to the other, as to whither they were going, led by Lieutenant Boswell and portions of the noted Black