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- The opposing armies compared
-- hopes of the Confederates, 45.
-- British interference desired by the Confederates
-- movements in England in their favor, 46.
-- Lord Lyons and the Peace Faction in New York
-- the Confederacy recognized by the Pope, 47.
-- Napoleon, Mexico, and the Confederates, 48.
-- revolution in the North expected
-- Confederate States' seal, 49.
-- events on the Rappahannock
-- conflicts near Beverly and Kelly's fords, 50.
-- Ewell in the Shenandoah Valley
-- Milroy driven from Winchester
-- a great disaster, 51.
-- Lee marching rapidly northward
-- alarm
-- a race for the Potomac, by Hooker and Lee, 52.
-- the armies flanking the Blue Ridge
-- a raid into Pennsylvania, 53.
-- alarm in Pennsylvania
-- Lee's errand and orders, 54.
-- preparations for opposing Lee
-- alarm in Philadelphia, 55.
-- Lee's Army across the Potomac
-- Hooker superseded by Meade, 56.
-- Meade invested with discretionary powers
-- Lee's March of invasion checked, 57.
-- preparations for battle
-- cavalry battle at Hanover, 58.
-- the hostile armies concentrating at Gettysburg
-- opening of the contest at Gettysburg, 59.
-- death of General Reynolds, 60.
-- battle of Seminary Ridge, 61.
-- defeat of the Nationals, 62.
-- preparations for renewing the struggle, 63.
-- position of the opposing armies at Gettysburg, 64.
-- perilous situation of the National left, 65.
-- a struggle for little Round Top, 66.
-- death of Generals Vincent and Weed, 67.
-- battle of Gettysburg, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, and 73.
-- flight of the Confederates, 74.
-- they escape into Virginia, 75.
-- the author's visit to the battle-field at Gettysburg, 76, 77, 78, 79.
-- soldier's Cemetery at Gettysburg
-- Mr. Lincoln's dedicatory address, 80.
Although the
Rappahannock was again flowing full and turbulent between the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia, and
Hooker was in full communication with ample supplies, his forces were in a perilous situation.
The enlistments of his nine months and two years men, to the number of almost thirty thousand, were expiring; and at the close of May,
his effective army did not exceed eighty-eight thousand men. His cavalry had been reduced by one-third since March, and in every way his army was sadly weakened.
Lee, meanwhile, had been.
re-enforced by the remainder of
Longstreet's troops, which had been brought up from before the fortifications at
Suffolk,
1 and the chief had reorganized his army into three corps, commanded respectively by
Longstreet,
A. P. Hill, and
Ewell,
2 all able leaders, and each bearing the commission of
Lieutenant-General.
Recent events had greatly inspirited the
Confederates, and given a buoyant tone to the feelings of the army.
Richmond seemed secure from harm for at least a year to come.
Its prisons (especially the Libby, which became both famous and infamous during the war) were crowded with captives.
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Charleston was defiant, and with reason.
Vicksburg and
Port Hudson, on the
Mississippi, though seriously menaced, seemed impregnable against.
any force
Grant and
Banks might array before them; and the appeals of
Johnston,
 |
|
Libby Prison.3 |
near
Jackson, for re-enforcements,
4 were regarded as notes of unnecessary alarm.
The friends of the
Confederates in
Europe encouraged the latter with promises of aid. They were elated by the
National disaster at
Chancellorsville, and desires for the acknowledgment of the independence of the “
Confederate States” were again strong and active.
In
England public movements in favor of the rebels were then prominent,
5 and these culminated in the spring of 1864 in the formation of a “
Southern Independence Association,” with a British peer (Lord Wharncliffe) as
President, and a membership composed of powerful representatives of the
Church, State, and Trade.
6 But the
British Government wisely hesitated; and notwithstanding
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47]
leaders of the
Peace Faction in the
city of New York had, six months before,
waited upon Lord Lyons, the
British minister at
Washington, with an evident desire to have his government interfere in our affairs, and thus secure the independence of the
Confederates,
7 and the emissaries of the conspirators were specially active in
Europe, the
British ministry, restrained by the good
Queen, steadily refused to take decided action in the matter.
Only the
Pope of
Rome, of all the rulers of the earth, acting as a temporal prince, officially recognized
Jefferson Davis as the head of a real Government.
8 At the same time a scheme of the
French Emperor for the destruction of the republic of
Mexico, and the establishment of a monarch there of his own selection, pledged to act in the interest of despotism, the
Roman Catholic Church, and the domination of the
Latin race, was in successful operation, by means of twenty thousand French soldiers and five thousand Mexicans.
In this movement, it is said, the conspirators
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48]
were the secret allies of the
Emperor, it being understood that so soon as he should obtain a firm footing in
Mexico he should, for valuable commercial considerations agreed upon, acknowledge the independence of the
Confederate States, and uphold it by force of arms if necessary; it also being understood that the
Government which
Davis and his fellow-conspirators were to establish at the close of hostilities, should in nowise offend
Napoleon's ideas of imperialism.
Monarchical titles, distinctions, and privileges, were to prevail.
The slave-holding class were to be the rulers, and the great mass of the people were to be subordinated to the interests of that oligarchy.
Therefore the triumphal march of the
