, rode up and said, almost sobbing as he
spoke, that his brigade was nearly destroyed. Lee held out his hand to
him as he was speaking, and, grasping the hand of his subordinate in
a friendly manner, replied with great gentleness and kindness: "Never
mind, general, all this has been _my_ fault. It is _I_ who have lost
this fight, and you must help me out of it in the best way you can."

This supreme calmness and composure in the commander-in-chief rapidly
communicated itself to the troops, who soon got together again, and
lay down quietly in line of battle in the fringe of woods along the
crest of the ridge, where Lee placed them as they came up. In front of
them the guns used in the great cannonade were still in position, and
Lee was evidently making every preparation in his power for the highly
probable event of an instant assault upon him in his disordered
condition, by the enemy. It was obvious that the situation of affairs
at the moment was such as to render such an attack highly perilous to
the Southern troops--and a sudden cheering which was now heard running
along the lines of the enemy on the opposite heights, seemed clearly
to indicate that their forces were moving. Every preparation possible
under the circumstances was made to meet the anticipated assault; the
repulsed troops of Pickett, like the rest of the army, were ready and
even eager for of the attack--but it did not come. The cheering was
afterward ascertained to have been simply the greeting of the men to
some one of their officers as he rode along the lines; and night fell
without any attempt on the Federal side to improve their success.

That success was indeed sufficient, and little would have been gained,
and perhaps much perilled, by a counter-attack. Lee was not defeated,
but he had not succeeded. General Meade could, with propriety, refrain
from an attack. The battle of Gettysburg had been a Federal victory.

Thus had ended the last great conflict of arms on Northern soil--in a
decisive if not a crushing repulse of the Southern arms. The chain of
events has been so closely followed in the foregoing pages, and the
movements of the two armies have been described with such detail,
that any further comment or illustration is unnecessary. The opposing
armies had been handled with skill and energy, the men had never
fought better, and the result seems to have been decided rather by
an occult decree of Providence than by any other circumstance. The