, from a pile which had been left there
by the Federals the day before. In response to General Jackson's
request for my report, I put another cracker box between the two
generals, on which I spread the map, showed them the road I had
ascertained, and indicated, so far as I knew it, the position of the
Federal army. General Lee then said, "General Jackson, what do you
propose to do?" He replied, "Go around here," moving his finger over
the road which I had located upon the map. General Lee said, "What do
you propose to make this movement with?" "With my whole corps," was
the answer. General Lee then asked, "What will you leave me?" "The
divisions of Anderson and McLaws," said Jackson. General Lee, after a
moment's reflection, remarked, "Well, go on," and then, pencil in
hand, gave his last instructions. Jackson, with an eager smile upon
his face, from time to time nodded assent, and when the
Commander-in-Chief ended with the words, "General Stuart will cover
your movement with his cavalry," he rose and saluted, saying, "My
troops will move at once, sir.""* (* Letter to the author. A letter
of General Lee to Mrs. Jackson, which contains a reference to this
council of war, appears as a Note at the end of the chapter.) The
necessary orders were forthwith dispatched. The trains, parked in
open fields to the rear, were to move to Todd's Tavern, and thence
westward by interior roads; the Second Army Corps was to march in one
column, Rodes' division in front, and A.P. Hill's in rear; the First
Virginia Cavalry, with whom was Fitzhugh Lee, covered the front;
squadrons of the 2nd, the 3rd, and the 5th were on the right;
Hotchkiss, accompanied by a squad of couriers, was to send back
constant reports to General Lee; the commanding officers were
impressed with the importance of celerity and secrecy; the ranks were
to be kept well closed up, and all stragglers were to be bayoneted.

4.5 A.M.

The day had broken without a cloud, and as the troops began their
march in the fresh May morning, the green vistas of the Wilderness,
grass under foot, and thick foliage overhead, were dappled with
sunshine. The men, comprehending intuitively that a daring and
decisive movement was in progress, pressed rapidly forward, and
General Lee, standing by the roadside to watch them pass, saw in
their confident bearing the presage of success. Soon after the first
regiments had gone by Jackson himself appeared at the head of his
staff. Opposite to the