for duty
at any point.

Howard held the line, from Dowdall's Tavern (Melzi Chancellor's) to
beyond Talley's farm on the old pike, with his right flank substantially
in the air, and with two roads, the main thoroughfares from east to
west, striking in on his right, parallel to his position.

As will be noticed from the map, the right, being along the pike, was
slightly refused from the rest of the line, considering the latter as
properly lying along the road to headquarters. From Dowdall's west,
the rise along the pike was considerable, and at Talley's the crest was
high. The whole corps lay on the watershed of the small tributaries of
the Rappahannock and Mattapony Rivers.

As a position to resist a southerly attack, it was as good as the
Wilderness afforded; although the extreme right rested on no obstacle
which superiority in numbers could not overcome. And a heavy
force, massed in the clearing at Dowdall's as a point d'appui, was
indispensable to safety, inasmuch as the conformation of the ground
afforded nothing for this flank to lean upon.

Having forfeited the moral superiority gained by his advance, having
withdrawn to his intrenchments at Chancellorsville, and decided, after
surprising his enemy, upon fighting a defensive battle, Hooker, early
on Saturday morning, examined his lines, and made sundry changes in the
forces under his command.

The position he occupied, according to Gen. Lee, was one of great
natural strength, on ground covered with dense forest and tangled
under-growth, behind breastworks of logs and an impenetrable abattis,
and approached by few roads, all easily swept by artillery. And, while
it is true that the position was difficult to carry by direct assault,
full compensation existed in other tactical advantages to the army
taking the offensive. It is not probable that Lee, in Hooker's place,
would have selected such ground. "Once in the wood, it was difficult
to tell any thing at one hundred yards. Troops could not march without
inextricable confusion." Despite which fact, however, the density of
these very woods was the main cause of Lee's success.

In this position, Hooker awaited the assault of his vigorous opponent.
As in all defensive battles, he was at certain disadvantages, and
peculiarly so in this case, owing to the terrain he had chosen, or
been forced to choose by Friday's easily accepted check. There were no
debouches for throwing forces upon Lee, should he wish to assume