Robert Lewis Dabney, Life and Commands of Lieutenand- General Thomas J. Jackson

[627] of ladies torn into shreds, mirrors precipitated upon the pavements, and the morocco-bound books of gentlemen's libraries carried in hampers to the river, and tumbled into the slime of the tides. But otherwise, the general aspect of the buildings gave singular proof of the difficulty of actually destroying a city by a bombardment. After all the tempest of projectiles by which it seemed the doomed city must be levelled with the ground, only a few houses were burned, and a few seriously broken down. In the others, the only signs of bombardment were a few small holes perforated in the walls and roofs by the shot, and a number of places, where glass and plastering had been broken by the explosions; while many buildings had almost miraculously escaped.

In this retreat, the Federalists had every circumstance to favor the secrecy of their movements; yet their success casts a reflection upon the watchfulness of the Confederates. It was true that the darkness, the rain, and the tempestuous wind, were sufficient to hide all the movements of the fugitives from the sentries; but surely, on all that extended front, there ought to have been some scouts adventurous and shrewd enough to penetrate the enemy's lines, by some mode, and gather some data which would be decisive of their purpose to fight or flee. The Confederate commander was much disappointed by the result. Another imperfect victory had been added to the list of his exploits, in which the glory of a masterly strategy and heroic courage at the beginning, was overclouded by a partial forfeiture of the anticipated fruits of victory. His beaten enemy had again extricated himself from a situation, which promised a complete triumph and a speedy peace to the Confederacy. Doubtless General Lee admitted in his own breast, that had he foreseen this escape of Burnside, he ought to have taken the aggressive against him during the two days of inaction, in some