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| Confederate General.4 |
1863. |
March 8. |
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desertions, and a conscription act, now put into rigorous operation, caused a rapid growth of his army in numbers.
In the space of three months “Stonewall” Jackson's corps alone increased from twenty-five thousand to thirty-three thousand men.1 Lee consolidated his artillery into one corps, and placed it under the command of General Pendleton, as chief.
He also gave a similar organization to his cavalry.
When April came, Lee found himself at the head of an army unsurpassed in discipline, and full of enthusiasm; yet it was divided, for, so early as February, he had sent Longstreet with two divisions to operate against General J. J. Peck in the vicinity of Suffolk, on the south side of the James River, and other troops were raiding with Imboden in West Virginia.
Yet he felt strong, with only about half the number, of troops in hand commanded by his antagonist, for he had extended and strengthened his fortifications in rear of Fredericksburg, and constructed a system of elaborate works along his whole front reaching from Banks's Ford to Port Royal, more than twenty-five miles.2 Even with his superior force3 Hooker could not hope to take these works, so he made preparations to force Lee out of them by turning
the flank of the latter and threatening his rear.
We have remarked that the cavalry of both armies had been active for some weeks.
On the 10th of February
W. H. F. Lee, with his brigade, made an unsuccessful attempt to surprise and capture the National forces at Gloucester Point, opposite Yorktown; and at a little past midnight, a month later,
a small band of mounted men, led by the afterward famous guerilla chief, John S. Moseby, dashed into the village of Fairfax Court-House, took from his bed and carried away the commanding officer, Colonel Stoughton, and some others, and, with many horses and other property, hurried off in the direction of Hooker's army, cutting the telegraph wires on their way. For this exploit Moseby
1 The Battle-fields of Virginia, volume I.: Chancellorsville, by Captain Jed. Hotchkiss and Lieutenant-Colonel William Allan (officers of Lee's army), page 14. This work contains carefully constructed maps, illustrative of the historical narrative.
2 Chancellorsville, by Hotchkiss and Allan, page 15.
3 Hooker's army was composed of seven corps, and comprised twenty-three divisions. The First Corps was commanded by General J. F. Reynolds; the Second, by General D. N. Couch; the Third, by General D. E. Sickles; the Fifth, by General G. G. Meade; the Sixth, by General J. Sedgwick; the Eleventh, by General O. O. Howard, and the Twelfth, by General H. W. Slocum. The division commanders were Generals J. S. Wadsworth J. C. Robinson, A. Doubleday, W. S. Hancock, J. Gibbon, W. H. French, D. D. Birney, H. G. Berry, A. W. Whipple, W. T. H. Brooks, A. P. Howe, J. Newton, C. Griffin, G. Sykes, A. A. Humphreys, C. Devens, A. Von Steinwehr, C. Schurz, S. Williams, J. W. Geary, A. Pleasanton, J. Buford, and W. W. Averill. The last three were commanders of cavalry under General G. Stoneman, who was the chief of the mounted men.
Lee's army was composed of two corps, the First commanded by General Longstreet, and the Second by “Stonewall” Jackson. Of these General T. J. Jackson's entire corps, comprising the divisions of A. P. Hill, D. H. Hill, Trimble, and Early, and the divisions of Anderson and McLaws, of Longstreet's corps, were now present in front of Hooker. Also the brigades of Fitzhugh Lee, and W. H. F. Lee, of Stuart's cavalry, with 170 pieces of artillery, making a total of a little more than 60,000 men of all arms.4 this shows the costume of a Confederate General, according to the regulations of their “War Department.” it was composed of a chapeau trimmed with gold lace, a gray coat with narrow buff collar and cuffs, blue pantaloons, and black leather sword-belt. On the collar, within an embroidered wreath, a golden star. On the coat two rows of gilt buttons, and sleeves trimmed with gold lace.
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