of
defeat than success, although composed of officers and soldiers
equal to the best ever called to battle. When Meade assumed command,
Lee's army was, in the main, far up the Cumberland Valley, and
pressing on; Ewell had orders to take Harrisburg, and was then,
with most of his corps, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. York and
Wrightsville, Pa., were taken on the 28th by Gordon of Early's
division. On the 29th Ewell ordered his engineer, with Jenkins'
cavalry, to reconnoitre the defences of Harrisburg, and he was
starting for that place himself on the same day when Lee recalled
him and his corps to join the main army at Cashtown, or Gettysburg.( 3)

Longstreet's corps marched from Fredericksburg, June 3d, _via_
Culpeper Court-House, thence up the Rappahannock and along the
eastern slope of the Blue Ridge; on the 19th occupied Ashby's and
Snicker's Gaps, leading to the Valley; on the 23d marched _via_
Martinsburg and Williamsport into Maryland, reaching Chambersburg
on the 27th; thence marched on the 30th to Greenwood, and the next
day to Marsh Creek, four miles from Gettysburg, Pickett's division
and Hood's brigade being left, respectively, at Chambersburg and
New Guilford.( 4)

A. P. Hill's corps did not leave Fredericksburg until the 14th of
June, just after Hooker put the Army of the Potomac in motion to
the northward. Hill marched into the Valley and joined Longstreet
at Berryville, and from there preceded him to Chambersburg, and by
one day to Cashtown and Gettysburg.( 5)

General J. E. B. Stuart, in command of the Confederate cavalry,
crossed the upper Rappahannock, June 16th, and moved east of the
Blue Ridge on Longstreet's right flank, leaving only a small body
of cavalry on the Rappahannock, in observation, with instructions
to follow on the right flank of Hill's corps. Severe cavalry
engagements took place at Aldie, the 17th, and at Middleburg,
Uppeville, and Snicker's Gap, without decisive results, both sides
claiming victories. On the 24th Stuart, with the main body of his
cavalry, succeeded in eluding the Union cavalry and Hooker's army
(then feeling its way north), and passed east of Centreville, thence
_via_ Fairfax Court-House and Dranesville, and crossed, July 27th,
the Potomac at Rowser's Ford, and captured a large supply train
between Washington and Rockville. Stuart's cavalry caused some
damage in the rear and east of the Army of the Potomac, but, on
the whole, this bold movement contributed li