S. WILLIAMS, Assistant Adjutant-General
General Lee's order was as follows:
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
May 7,1863.
With heart-felt gratification, the general commanding expresses to the army his sense of the heroic conduct displayed by officers and men during the arduous operations in which they have just been engaged.
Under trying vicissitudes of heat and storm you attacked the enemy, strongly intrenched in the depths of a tangled wilderness, and again on the hills of Fredericksburg, fifteen miles distant, and by the valor that has triumphed on so many fields forced him once more to seek safety beyond the Rappahannock. While this glorious victory entitles you to the praise and gratitude of the nation, we are especially called upon to return our grateful thanks to the only Giver of victory, for the signal deliverances He has wrought.
It is therefore earnestly recommended that the troops unite on
Sunday next in ascribing unto the Lord of hosts the glory due unto
His name.
Let us not forget, in our rejoicing, the brave soldiers who have
fallen in defence of their country; and, while we mourn their
loss, let us resolve to emulate their noble example.
The army and the country alike lament the absence for a time of
one to whose bravery, energy, and skill, they are so much indebted
for success.
The following letter from the President of the Confederate States
is communicated to the army, as an expression of his appreciation
of their success: