Prĕs′ident, the head of a free people. Mĕr′cy, kindness. Găl′lant, brave; daring in fight. Vĭc′tor, one who wins. Posĭ′tion, place.
Tell about— The two governments. The first blood shed. The first gun fired. “Camp Lee.” Where General Lee was first sent. The “On to Richmond.” Jeb Stuart. “Stonewall” Jackson. The Second Battle of Manassas. Sharpsburg. Fredericksburg. The will of Mr. Custis. The soldiers’ love for Lee.
CHAPTER V.
A Confederate General.
(Continued.)
When the spring of 1863 came, the two armies were still in sight of each other near Fredericksburg. A new man, General Hooker, sometimes called “Fighting Joe,” had been put at the head of the army of the North. Take note that he was the fourth general that President Lincoln had sent forth within a year to conquer Lee.
Lee watched his new foe, and when he had found out his plans was ready for him. He fell back to a place called Chancellorsville, and there, in the midst of a dense forest, the fight took place (May 2, 3).
While the battle was going on, Lee sent Jackson to the rear to cut Hooker off from a ford in the river. Jackson’s men moved through the forest so swiftly and with so little noise that they fell upon Hooker’s men with a loud yell before he knew they were near. They rushed out like a thunder-bolt and swept down upon the line like a flash of lightning. The foe did not wait, but turned and fled.
It was now nearly dark, and, as Jackson rode forward to view the way, he was shot by his own men, who, in the dim light, thought that he and his aids were a squad of Northern cavalry. He was shot in three places—in his right hand, his left forearm, and again in the same limb near the shoulder. He was placed in a litter and taken from the field. All care was taken of this great and good man, but he died the next Sunday. His last words were:
“Order A. P. Hill to prepare for action. Pass the infantry to the front. Tell Major Hawkes”—he stopped and then said, as if the fight was over, “Let us pass over the river and rest under the trees.”
Thus passed away the great Stonewall Jackson, the “right arm of Lee.”