Army of the Potomac, with such a history. As I gazed up
and down those massive lines of living men, felt that I was one of them,
and saw those battle-scarred flags kissed by the loving breeze, my blood
tingled to my very finger-tips, my hair seemed almost to raise straight
up, and I said a thousand Confederacies can't whip us. And here I think
I grasped the main purpose of this review. It was not simply to give the
President a sight of his "strong right arm," as he fondly called the
Army of the Potomac, nor General Hooker, its new commander, an
opportunity to see his men and them a chance to see their new
chief,--though both of these were included,--but it was to give the army
a square look at its mighty self, see how large and how strong it really
was, that every man might thereby get the same enthusiasm and
inspiration that I did, and know that it simply could not be beaten. The
enemy, it is not strange to say, were intensely interested spectators of
this whole scene, for the review was held in full view of the whole of
their army. No place could have been chosen that would better have
accommodated their enjoyment of the picture, if such it was, than that
open plain, exactly in their front. And we could see them swarming over
Marye's Heights and the lines to the south of it, intently gazing upon
us. A scene more resplendent with military pageantry and the
soul-stirring accessories of war they will never see again. But did it
stir their blood? Yes; but with bitterness only, for they must have seen
that the task before them of successfully resisting the onslaughts of
this army was impossible. Here was disclosed, undoubtedly, another
purpose of this grand review, viz., to let the enemy see with their own
eyes how powerful the army was with which they had to contend.

A remarkable feature of this review was the marvellous celerity of its
formation. The various corps and subdivisions of the army were started
on the march for the reviewing ground so as to reach it at about the
same time. It should be remembered that most of them were encamped from
four to eight miles away. Aides-de-camp with markers by the score were
already in position on the plain when the troops arrived, so that there
was almost no delay in getting into position. As our column debouched
upon the field, there seemed an inextricable mass of marching columns as
far as the eye could see. Could order ever be gotten out of it? Yet,
presto! the right of the lin