art of me is
_inside_ and out of reach." "He rode a great deal," says Mr. Brooks,
"while with the army, always preferring the saddle to the elegant
ambulance which had been provided for him. He sat his horse well, but he
rode hard, and during his stay I think he regularly used up at least one
horse each day. Little Tad invariably followed in his father's train;
and, mounted on a smaller horse, accompanied by an orderly, the
youngster was a conspicuous figure, as his gray cloak flew in the wind
while we hung on the flanks of Hooker and his generals."

General Hooker was now planning his great movement against Richmond, and
talked freely of the matter with the President, In the course of a
conversation, Lincoln casually remarked, "If you get to Richmond,
General." But Hooker interrupted him with--"Excuse me, Mr. President,
but there is no 'if' in the case. _I am going straight to Richmond, if I
live_!" Later in the day, Lincoln, privately referring to this
self-confidence of the General, said to Mr. Brooks, rather mournfully,
"It is about the worst thing I have seen since I have been down here."
In further illustration of Hooker's confidence in himself, Mr. Brooks
says: "One night, Hooker and I being alone in his hut, the General
standing with his back to the fireplace, alert, handsome, full of
courage and confidence, said laughingly, 'The President says you know
about that letter he wrote me on taking command.' I acknowledged that
the President had read it to me. The General seemed to think that the
advice was well-meant, but unnecessary. Then he added, with that
charming assurance which became him so well, 'After I have been to
Richmond, I am going to have that letter printed.'" But all that came of
Hooker's confidence, after three months of elaborate preparation, was a
grand forward movement into Virginia and another bloody and humiliating
defeat for the heroic but unfortunate army under his command.

The first of May, 1863, the Army of the Potomac under Hooker met the
Army of Northern Virginia under Lee and Jackson, near Chancellorsville,
Virginia. It was here that Jackson executed his brilliant and successful
flank movement around the Union right, ensuring a victory for his side
but losing his own life. After a contest of several days, involving the
fruitless sacrifice of thousands of gallant soldiers, Hooker's army fell
back and recrossed the Rappahannock.[G]

The news of this fresh disaster was an almost stunning