But things did not turn out as he expected. The inhabitants of Maryland
did not rally to him, McClellan was soon after him with a great army,
and on September 17, overtook him at Antietam, and fought a desperate
battle; from which Lee, overwhelmed by an army half again as large as
his own, was forced to withdraw defeated, though in good order, and
recross the Potomac into Virginia. Three months later, he got his
revenge in full measure at Fredericksburg, routing Burnside with fearful
loss, and early in May of the following year scored heavily again by
defeating Hooker at Chancellorsville. The last victory was a
dearly-bought one, for it cost the life of that most famous of all
American cavalry leaders, "Stonewall" Jackson, of whom we shall speak
hereafter.
That was the culmination of Lee's career, for two months after
Chancellorsville, having started on another great invasion of the North,
on the fourth day of July, 1863, he was forced to retire from the fierce
battle of Gettysburg with his army seriously crippled and with all hope
of invading the North at an end. He was on the defensive, after that,
with Grant's great army gradually closing in upon him and drawing nearer
and nearer to Richmond. That he was able to prolong this struggle for
nearly two years, especially considering the exhausted state of the
South, was remarkable to the last degree, eloquent testimony to the high
order of his leadership.
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