ender of
territory would undoubtedly have embarrassed both the Government and
the supply department. Moreover, at the end of November, it might
have been urged that if Burnside were permitted to possess himself of
Fredericksburg, it was by no means certain that he would advance on
Richmond; establishing himself in winter quarters, he might wait
until the weather improved, controlling, in the meantime, the
resources and population of that portion of Virginia which lay within
his reach.

Nevertheless, as events went far to prove, Mr. Davis would have done
wisely had he accepted the advice of the soldiers on the spot. His
strategical glance was less comprehensive than that of Lee and
Jackson. In the first place, they knew that if Burnside proposed
going into winter quarters, he would not deliberately place the
Rappahannock between himself and his base, nor halt with the great
forest of Spotsylvania on his flank. In the second place, there could
be no question but that the Northern Government and the Northern
people would impel him forward. The tone of the press was
unmistakable; and the very reason that Burnside had been appointed to
command was because McClellan was so slow to move. In the third
place, both Lee and Jackson saw the need of decisive victory. With
them questions of strategic dispositions, offering chances of such
victory, were of more importance than questions of supply or internal
politics. They knew with what rapidity the Federal soldiers recovered
their morale; and they realised but too keenly the stern
determination which inspired the North. They had seen the hosts of
invasion retire in swift succession, stricken and exhausted, before
their victorious bayonets. Thousands of prisoners had been marched to
Richmond; thousands of wounded, abandoned on the battle-field, had
been paroled; guns, waggons and small arms, enough to equip a great
army, had been captured; and general after general had been reduced
to the ignominy that awaits a defeated leader. Fremont and Shields
had disappeared; Banks was no longer in the field; Porter was waiting
trial; McDowell had gone; Pope had gone, and McClellan; and yet the
Army of the Potomac still held its ground, the great fleets still
kept their stations, the capture of Richmond was still the objective
of the Union Government, and not for a single moment had Lincoln
wavered from his purpose.

It will not be asserted that either Lee or Jackson fathomed the
source of t