Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 14.djvu/433

 Recollections of Fredericksburg. 427

Deep Run on the 29th of April ? Was the movement premature, or was it made to threaten and hold Lee at Fredericksburg until Hooker could slip through the Wilderness and fall upon the Jflank and rear of Lee's army ? If so, why did Hooker halt at Chancel- lorsville, and commence fortifying on the 30th of April ? After Lee moved up to Chancellorsville, and confronted Hooker on the ist of May, why were Hooker and Sedgwick both inactive ? They knew that Lee had divided his army. Hooker and Sedgwick each had an army — had they been Confederate soldiers — that could have van- quished either half of Lee's army, if that half had been any other than Confederate soldiers. Yet they both remained inactive until Jackson gained the extreme right flank of Hooker's army on the 2d with fully half of Lee's army, and drove back the right wing of Hooker's arm}'' upon his centre. Then Sedgwick began to move in earnest on the 3d of May, and Hooker remained on the defensive with his ninety thousand against forty-five thousand. From the number of men that Hooker knew Jackson had on his right flank, stirring up his Dutch, he must have known that Lee had but few left between him and Sedgwick. Yet Hooker remained defending his ninety thousand as best he could against* Anderson's twelve thousand and Jackson's twenty five thousand, and let Lee turn towards Fred- ericksburg with two divisions — eight thousand men — on the 4th of May, and in hearing distance of Hooker, drive Sedgwick, with his twenty thousand, across the Rappahannock ; and on the 5th became alarmed for the safety of his ninety thousand, and precipitately re- crossed the river. That didn't look to the Rebels like " pulverizing the rebellion " much.

Had Hooker been a Lee, and Sedgwick a Jackson, Sedgwick would have moved out of Deep Run with his 30,000, square across the plateau between Barksdale and Early during the night of the ist of May, and presented himself on the hills on the Mine road ; Gen- eral Early would have been captured or routed back to North Anna, Barksdale would have evacuated Marye's Hill, and, perhaps, made his escape by the plank road and gained Lee, and Jackson would not have made his flank movement to Hooker's right flank. Still, then, nothing but action on the part of both Hooker and Sedg- wick would have prevailed. If General Hooker had prudently remained at Chancellorsville, defending his ninety thousand men against half of Lee's army, now reduced by the loss of Early, Stone- wall Jackson would have turned upon Sedgwick with the other half of

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