The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-12-04

with force Of about 125, 900 thor
oughly equipped and we'll seasoned
troops. 1t was by far the best fur
nished body Of soldiery at that time
IN the field on either side. 1t was
commanded by "Fighting Joe Hook
er,' who had boastcd "that while in
command of the army of the west he
had only been able to soc the backs Of
The Confederate soldiers. lie had
been transferred to the army Of the
Potomac for the express purpose Of
taking Richmond. So sangune was
he OF accomplishing this feat ttat he
dated his general order, "IIcadouar-
tcrs ia the Saddle General Lee g
army Of $4,000 veterans occupied the
south bank of the river and in front
OF Fredericksburg. 1t was composed
OF Stoncwall Jackson's and A. i.
Hills corps and McLaws' and Andcr-
sons divisions Of Longstrc. > corps
Qongstrcct with the balance of his
corps being at Suffolk, Va, some 200
miles away
The restless Hooker, on the LIST and
I'd Of May, 1863, crossed the river i'm
mediatcly in front Of the Confederate
lines ith most formidable array of
artillery, cavalry and best equipped
infantry then in the service on eithe.
side-greater in numbers than any
force General Lee had in his entire
command to oppose him with. But
tn" sequel soon proved the truth Of
80: apaoiism that "the race is not
always to the swift nor the battle to
the strong Hooker had also crossed
the Rappahanuock about the same
time II luiles above Fredericksburg
with $4,000 men Of all arms, resting
each wing of his command at or near
the banks of the river, ard in tho
form of a crescent. Iu addition to
this Hooker had sent large body Of
cavalry under General Stoneman to
cut off Lees communication with
Richmond. BY this movement he
thought he had Lee entirely surround
cd aud completely in his power aud
boastingly announced in general orders
to his forces that his, "the finest body
OF troops on the planet, would quick
ly destroy Lee and his army aud be in
Richmond in very short time. Tho
writer, just at this time, witnessed one
Of the grandest military spectaoles
ever beheld in modern times. He
saw drawn up along the shores and
adjacent plains Of the Rappahannock
River line after line of light and
heavy artillery, with intervals between
them; each line formed in regular org
der OF battle and each supported by
full army corps and divisions OF infan-
try and cavalry, extending almost as
far back as the eye could reach. All
these dazzling lines of armed men
fairly glittering in blue and gold, with
their polished guns, flashing sabers
and brilliantly coiored standards,
. formed picture Of military spleudor,
when taken in connection with their
vast numbers-all in full view Of the
comparatively small and poorly equip
ped forces Of the Confederates, GER
tainly seemed sufficient to appall the
hearts OF any but the brave, courage
Gus and intensely patriotic soldiers
who, relying on the justice Of their
cause, had resolved not to be intimi-
dated by numbers or dismayed by all
this magnificent display Of martial
grandeur. But as gloomy as the pros.
pect was to the Southern troops, that
wonderful military genius. the .ndomi.
table, daring, rcsourceful stra,egist
aud leader, "Stonewall' jackson, waa
there and showed himself equal to the
emergency.
Late at night he resolved TO make
personal inspection of the country
roa s and other approaches leading
toward Hookor's rear near Ch. ncel.
lorsvillc. Disgusting himself h ri
lently left Damp about midnight He
had ncs gc.c far before he came upon
solitary Confederate soldier, squat
ted over a little fire, trying to cook
tender small piece Of poor and very
tough beef, his only ration After
conversing short while with this lone
ration cooker, he found him to be all
Intelligent and we'll informed man,
one born and raised in the immediate
neighborhood and thoroughly ao-
quainted with every road and by path
in all that section. After fully assur-
ing himself of this man 8 reliability
and fitness as guide he made himself
known and, securing the consent of