With the perception there came a change in himself. He had entered this ring in the Wilderness with a constriction of the heart, a quick farewell to whatever in life he yet held dear, a farewell certainly to the soldier's life, to the army, to the guns, to the service of the country, an iron bracing of every nerve to meet an iron thrust. And now the thrust had not yet come, and the general looked at him quietly, as one well-meaning man looks at another who also means well. He had suffered much and long. Something rose into his throat, the muscles of his face worked slightly, he turned his head aside. Jackson waited another moment,—then, the other having recovered himself, spoke with quietness.
"You did, at White Oak Swamp, take it upon yourself to act, although there existed in your mind a doubt as to whether your orders—the orders you say you received—would bear that construction?"
"And your action proved a wrong action?"
"It proved a mistaken action, sir."
"It is the same thing. It entailed great loss with peril of greater."
"Yes, general."
"Had the brigade followed there might have ensued a general and disastrous engagement. The enemy were in force there—as I knew. Your action brought almost the destruction of your regiment. It brought the death of many brave men, and to a certain extent endangered the whole. That is so."
"Yes, general. It is so."
"Good! There was an order delivered to you. The man from whose lips you took it is dead. His reputation was that of a valiant, intelligent, and trustworthy man—hardly one to misrepeat an important order. That is so?"