The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-04-12
CHAPTER XII.

Panic does not always follow defeat.
Indeed it seldom does. A battle is a
checkerboard wherein all the spots are
marked with blood. The checkers are
men-men Lying in reserve, men on the
battle lines, men charging on banks or
center.
The generals in command watch tho
board. II one makes move on the
right or left, the other seeks to take ad
vantage of it. For the time being they
shut their ears to the roar of battle,
shut their eyes to the sight of dead and
wounded. Beauregard halted at the
threshold of victory at Shiloh. So with
Mcclellan at Antietam. At Fredet
icksburg Lee permitted Burnside to re
treat after defeat. AT Gettysburg Meade
did the same with Lee. jackson hat
thrown himself against Shields at
Kernstown on the right, on the left, oil
..he center. lie could not break the line
anywhere. He left his dead along a from
of mile and half, but the sacrifice was
In vain. 1t was military tactics to re
treat-to fall back to strong position
and oblige Shields to attack him or give
over his march up the valley. There is
sometimes more generalship in RETREAT
than in an advance or in fighting bat
tie. The trains must be saved, the
broken and disorganized commands
picked up and reformed, the best troops
sent to the rear TO stand as bulwark
between the exhausted army and the en-
thusiastic enemy.
Jackson LETT nothing behind him ar
tillery, wagons OF muskets worth gath
ering up and reporting. Most of his
wounded We're carried up tho valley as
he fell back. Shields followed slowly,
and the rear guard had no fighting to
do The panic of an army, Of an army
corps even, is terrible sight but the
panic of town is something which no
one can fifty describe. The news of
Jackson's defeat preceded him, and
when he reached Winchester it was to
find town wild with fear and crazed
by terror. War was young then. In
after years the old town changed hands
without tremor, gathered up the dead
off its streets and buried them as part
OF the regular programme.
'The Yankees are coming The town
will he given mp TO sack! Winchester
is 10 he burned, and WOMEN and chill
dren must heeu
30 rose the cry from house to house.
Some locked their doors and rode away
ON horseback or in their carriages.
Others left their doors wide open and
took the turnpike to tho south on foot,
carrying whatever they had at first laid
hands ON as burden. Furniture was
bioughtont and piled in the streets and
set fire to, and had not Jacksun's 8 ad,
vance arrived as it did the peopleuf the
tcwn would have applied the torch to
their own looftrees. The Yankee sol
dier was popularly supposed to be with
on honor or pity rutrian who stopped
al no crime, jackson paused to refresh
lis men and allay the excitement. Those
who had not fled decided to remain,
though fearful of consequences, but the
general excitement scarcely ahated.
The Percys were among the fist to
hear of jackson S defeat and the news
that the Federal army was following
| him up and would soon be in WinchGs-
ter. They were excited, but not terrified.
We will remain right here, and We
shall not be disturbed, = said Marian to
| her mother. The Federals have not
burned towns elsewhere nor made wal
| o. women and children, and they will
! not do SO here. We have no cause TO be
afraid