Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1902-10-16

ous fords above that tonn. m
movement was accomplished master
fully, and the commandef chic
was SO positive Of success In battl'
that. it was said. he declared tha
not even the Almighty could prsven
It'll
/ But the intrepid leader with whom
Mcclellan. Pope and Burnside bad
been unable 70 cope was yst 70 b
reckoned with. Toallordinary view
his position. was precarioas. for his
army numbered but hall shat of his
adversary. and ths sble Lonastreel
was absent. But. nSdisuaayed. hi
prepared for battle. Ilnnediately
upon hearing OF Hooker : approach
by the rear, he dispatched Ander'
son 5 and sMcLAw ! divisidz to dis.
pute his march. These moved for.
ward to point near the Tabernacle
Church and there intrenched.
Coming to Quarters.
A little to the east OF the spot (and
west of the Salem church, the Or.
ange Plank road breaks OF to the old
turnpike, sweeps due west and
north, and reunites with the turn.
pike at charlottesville. The dis
tance between these functions is
about five or six miles, while the
Tabernacle Church is sabout the same
distance west Of Fredericksburg.
Hooker's movement 10 the attack
would, Of course, be easterly.
The latter General established his
headquarters at Chancellorsville,
and Meade and Slocum went for
ward to contest Lees advance, NOT
all of whose troops were brought
away from his stronghold, for Ear
ly and Barksdale remained to op-
pose the attack that Sedgwick was
sure to make.
On May 1, when Jackson reached
Anderson position, he took com
maud of the advance, and In the
skirmishing that ensued pressed the
Federals back toward Chancellors-
vile.
But this result was really due to
an unaccountable change in Hook.
er's plan. This splendid soldier,
capable and efficient at the head of a
corps and the planner of q fine BIZ
OF strategy, seemed all of q sudden
to lose his grip upon the situation,
and thus from offensive battle, full
of energy and vim, he changed his
tactics to the defensive, and an.
nounced to his astonished lieuten.
ants that he would await Lees at
tack.
Perhaps it was keen senses of the
vast responsibility of handling sc
great an army and the disastrous
results of defeat; perhaps it was the
character of the country in which
the battle must be made, that in
duced him TO weaken. 1t cannot be
supposed that the hero OF many diff
ficult charges would hesitate to en-.
gage the enemy in an open district
no matter how great the odds; but
the helplessness of the Wilderness
strikes civilian powerfully. How
an army can maneuver amid such
tangled wilds surpasses imagina
tion.
Yet, under ordinary circumstan
ces, we can see no reason why
Hooker should not only have beater
of Lee, but, in the exigencies of thu
engagement, even have overwhelmed
him. But here Lees strategy su
pervened with remarkable results
| Walking up Plank road, passed
the spot where Lee and Jackson
communed at midnight of May I
and where ''Old Jack, as his mer
familiarity called him. started earl,
in the morning on a march TO th'
southwest. The movement was de
tected by Hooker's scouts, and tn,
General, believing that Lee was re
treating TO Gordonsville, dispatched
Sickles to strike him en- route. Th,
latter did SO, and captured some hun
dreds of prisoners-a small price To-
the enemy to pay for his successful
deception.
Little dreamed Hooker and hi,
men of what was impending. Be
yond Dowdall's Tavern and tn
Wilderness Church, two and hal
or three miles west of Chancellors
vile, and covering both the turn
pike and the Plank road, was Hook
er's right flank. under Howard.
was for this point that Jackson wa
aiming, while Hooker's left was be
ing amused by Lee.
at a certain point "Stonewall
turned northward, and when b
reached the old turnpike westwar'
formed his line of battle ut right an
giles. When all was ready heswep
onward through the edense woods wit
irresistible vigor, and crushed HOOK