of which the activity, on his part at least, was more than
satisfying.

Such blindness as Banks had shown is difficult to explain. His latest
information, previous to the attack on Kenly, told him that Jackson's
trains were arriving at Harrisonburg on the 20th, and he should
certainly have inferred that Jackson was in advance of his waggons.
Now from Harrisonburg across the Massanuttons to Front Royal is
fifty-five miles; so it was well within the bounds of possibility
that the Confederates might reach the latter village at midday on the
23rd. Moreover, Banks himself had recognised that Strasburg was an
unfavourable position. It is true that it was fortified, but therein
lay the very reason that would induce the enemy to turn it by Front
Royal. Nor did the idea, which seems to have held possession of his
mind throughout the night, that Ewell alone had been sent to destroy
Kenly, and had afterwards fallen back, show much strategic insight.
Front Royal was the weak point in the Federal position. It was of all
things unlikely that a commander, energetic and skilful as Jackson
was well known to be, would, when he had once advertised his
presence, fail to follow up his first blow with his whole force and
the utmost vigour. It is only fair to add that the Federal
authorities were no wiser than their general. At two A.M. on the
morning of the 24th, although the news of Kenly's disaster had been
fully reported, they still thought that there was time to move fresh
troops to Strasburg from Baltimore and Washington. It seemed
incredible that Jackson could be at Front Royal. "Arrangements are
making," ran Stanton's telegram to Banks, "to send you ample
reinforcements. Do not give up the ship before succour can arrive."

We may now turn to Jackson.

Up to the present his operations had been perfectly successful. He
had captured over 700 of the enemy, with a loss of only 40 or 50 to
himself. He had seized stores to the value of three hundred thousand
dollars (60,000 pounds), and a large quantity had been burned by the
enemy. He had turned the intrenched position at Strasburg. He
threatened the Federal line of retreat. Banks was completely at his
mercy, and there seemed every prospect of inflicting on that
ill-starred commander a defeat so decisive as to spread panic in the
council chambers of the Northern capital.

But the problem was not so simple as it seemed. In the first place,
although the positions of the Federals had been