rossed this stream at Germania Mills, and General
Meade's at Ely Ford, below, and then all marched on roads which converge
to the Chancellorsville House, a large brick edifice, which was used as
a mansion and tavern, situated in a small clearing of a few acres, and
which, with its few appendages of outbuildings, constituted the village
known by that name. Other forces, including General Pleasonton, with
nearly a brigade of cavalry, who guarded the flanks of the advancing
columns, had crossed the river, and taken their position near
Chancellorsville.

By this wily movement General Lee's position on the Rappahannock had
been entirely flanked; and, flushed with incipient success, General
Hooker followed his great captains, and in the evening of the thirtieth
of April he established his headquarters in the historic brick mansion
above described. So completely absorbed was our general with the
brilliancy of his advance that, in the moment of exultation, he forgot
the dangers of his situation, and issued the following congratulatory
order:

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,
Camp near Falmouth, Virginia, April 30, 1863.

It is with heartfelt satisfaction that the commanding
general announces to the army that the operations of the
last three days have determined that our enemy must either
ingloriously fly or come out from behind his defences and
give us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction
awaits him. The operations of the Fifth, Eleventh, and
Twelfth Corps have been a succession of splendid
achievements.

By command of MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER.

S. WILLIAMS, _Assistant Adjutant-General_.

It would seem as if the general had overlooked the fact that his army
had but eight days' supplies at hand; that a treacherous river flowed
between him and his depots; that he was surrounded by a labyrinth of
forests, traversed in every direction by narrow roads and paths, all
well known to the enemy, but unknown even to most of his guides; and
that many of his guns of heaviest calibre, and most needed in a deadly
strife, were on the other side the river.

General Lee had undoubtedly been outgeneraled by Hooker in this
movement, but he appeared not to have been disconcerted. Leaving the
Heights of Fredericksburg with a small force, he advanced towards
Chancellorsville.

_May 1._--The first collision between the contending forces took place
to-day. G