Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 37.djvu/231

Rh 29th. And 2d. Had he decided instead to press on through Hanover to York he would have been able to effect a junction with General Early at York by the evening of the 29th, or the early morning of the 30th, and his superb leadership would then have been available in the march from York to Cashtown on the 30th, and in the operations on the fateful 1st of July.

Certainly it is not strange that General Lee should have been surprised that he had no intelligence from General Stuart between the 23rd of June and the 2nd of July; and the question is whether that long delay was unavoidable under the circumstances in which General Stuart found himself after he parted with General Lee. Col. Mosby says Gen. Lee had studied astronomy and knew the nature of an eclipse. Yes, but General Lee was not surprised at the eclipse, but at the length of its duration. He sent couriers in every direction to gain, if possible, news of Gen. Stuart. Col. Mosby insists it was no part of Gen. Stuart's duty to report to Gen. Lee the movements of Hooker's army. Yet Stuart himself writes in his report, "It was important for me to reach our column with as little delay