columns were hurrying on to battle,--and as merry as crickets.

One thing that shone conspicuous here, and always, was the indomitable
_spirit_ of the "Army of Northern Virginia," their intelligence about
military movements; their absolute confidence in General Lee, and their
quiet, matter of course, _certainty of victory_, under him. Here they
were pushing right to certain battle, the dust in clouds, the sun
blazing down, hardly anything to eat, and yet, with their arms and
uniform away, a spectator might have taken them for a lot of "sand-boys
on a picnic," _if_ there had only been some eatables along, to give
color to this delusion.

And their intelligence! These men were not parts of a great machine
moving blindly to their work. Very far from it! Stand on the roadside,
as they marched by and hear their talk, the expression of their opinions
about what was going on, you soon found that these men, privates, as
well as officers, were well aware of what they were doing, and where
they were going. In a general way, they knew what was going on, and what
was _going to go on_, with the strangest accuracy. By some quick, and
wide diffusion of intelligence among the men, they understood affairs,
and the general situation perfectly well. For instance, as we passed on
down that road to the fight, we knew,--just _how_ we didn't know,--but
we _did know_, and it was commonly talked of and discussed, as
ascertained fact, among us as we marched,--that General Grant had about
150,000 men moving on us. We knew that Longstreet was near Gordonsville,
and that one Division of A. P. Hill had not come up. We knew that we
had, along with us there, only Ewell's Corps and two divisions of A. P.
Hill's Corps, the cavalry and some of Longstreet's artillery. In short,
as I well remember, it was a fact, accepted among us, that General Lee
was pushing, as hard as he could go, for Grant's 150,000 with about
35,000 men; and yet, knowing all this, these lunatics were sweeping
along to that appallingly unequal fight, cracking jokes, laughing, and
with not the least idea in the world of anything else but victory. I
did not hear a despondent word, nor see a dejected face among the
thousands I saw and heard that day. I bear witness to this fact, which I
wondered at then, and wonder at now. It is one of the most stirring and
touching of my memories of the war. It was the grandest moral exhibition
I ever saw! For it was simply the absolute confidence in th