Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 14.djvu/289

 The Battle of C hancellorsville. 283

attempts to impress on Howard the danger of an attack, but the latter took his color, as well as his orders, from the commander of the army. General Carl Schurz, under whom I served that day, also held strongly to the flank-attack theory, and scores of men in the Eleventh corps, after the picket fight of 3:30, fully believed that another attack would be made in the same place. Common generosity to the mem- ory of Hooker, who was a gallant and successful corps commander, leads us to think that at the time he believed that the enemy was re- treating. His neglect of the right was otherwise criminal. In him alone centered all the information of constantly occurring changes. To him alone was reported each new circumstance. His subordi- nates knew but the partial truth. They relied on him for the initi- ative.

At 6 P. M., then, the situation was this: The left and centre lay as before. Howard held the right, the "key of the position," with 10,000 men, a half brigade of Devens's only astride the pike, the rest of Devens's and Schurz' s facing south, and Steinwehr massed at Dowdall's. Howard's best brigade was gone, and there was not a man to support him between Dowdall's and Chancellorsville. For this portion of the line under Sickles had been advanced into the woods nearly two miles. On the right flank of this little force lay Jackson's corps of over 20,000 men, whose wide wings, like the arms of a gigantic cuttlefish, were ready to clutch it in their fatal embrace.

To cover Jackson's march, Lee at intervals during the day tapped at the lines in his front, principally where Hancock lay.

During all this afternoon, Hooker had a chance handsomely to redeem his Friday's error in retiring into the Wilderness. Whatever the reason, the /a^/ that Lee had divided his army remained clear. Lee, with the right wing, had but 18,000 men. Hooker knew that he could not have more than 25,000. He himself had 70,000 splendid troops. He could have crushed Lee like an eggshell, and then have turned on Jackson. But, with a knowledge of Jackson's habit of mystery, of his wonderful speed and fighting capacity, and of his presence on our right, with all the means of knowing that this same right flank was isolated by two miles of impenetrable woods from any supporting force, he sat still, folded his hands, as it were, for sleep, and waited events.

The Eleventh corps was cooking or eating supper. Arms were stacked. Breastworks looking south were but fairly substantial. Facing east were none. Some carelessness was apparent, in that ambulances, ammunition wagons, pack mules and even a drove of beeves were