The Photographic History of The Civil War: in ten volumes, Thousands of Scenes Photographed 1861-65, with Text by many Special Authorities, Volume 10: The Armies and the Leaders.
Francis Trevelyan Miller, Ed.

[64] had just performed brilliant feats in the Valley of Virginia were not brought up in time. The next day's struggle resulted in a Pyrrhic victory for Lee, who was left, however, in complete control of the north bank of the Chickahominy.

The remainder of the great Seven Days fighting around Richmond need not be described. Lee himself did not escape criticism; he was often badly supported; the Federals, as at Malvern Hill, showed themselves to be gallant foes, but the net result was the retreat of McClellan to the shelter of his gunboats, the relief of Richmond, and the recognition of Lee as the chief defender of the South. The Confederate commander was not fully satisfied, believing that with proper support he ought to have crushed his adversary. Perhaps he was oversanguine, but it is clear that aspiring aggressiveness is a necessary element in the character of a general who is to impress the imagination of the world.

His next procedure, McClellan having again begun to retreat, was to join Jackson against Pope, who had been threatening the Piedmont region. After complicated operations, in which the Federal general showed much bewilderment, and after daringly dividing his army in order to enable Jackson to move on Pope's rear, Lee won the complete victory of Second Manassas on August 30, 1862. Despite his inferior numbers, his aggressiveness and his ability to gage his opponents had enabled him to rid Virginia of Federal forces, and he resolved to invade Maryland. Davis acquiesced in his farsighted plan, and the march began on September 5th. The detaching of Jackson to take Harper's Ferry and the loss of one of Lee's orders, which fell into McClellan's hands, soon gave a somewhat sinister turn to the campaign. Lee's boldness and extraordinary capacity on the field enabled him, however, to fight the drawn battle of Sharpsburg, or Antietam, on September 17th with remarkable skill, yet with dreadful losses to