Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/493

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CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY.
455

wounded is greater than either of the previous days' fighting. This was owing to the great use made of artillery.

At 6 in the afternoon of the same day, he dispatched:

The impression that Lee had started on his retreat, which prevailed at the date of my dispatch this morning, is not confirmed. Our skirmishers have found the rebels along the whole line, and the conclusion now is, that the retrograde movement of last night was made to correct their position after the loss of the key-points taken from them yesterday, and they are still before us in force. Of course we cannot determine, without a battle, whether their whole army is still here, and nothing has been done to-day to provoke one. It has been necessary to rest the men, and accordingly we have everywhere stood upon the defensive.

He then claimed that, in changing his lines, Lee had uncovered the roads leading southward along his right, and that Grant had ordered Meade to withdraw Warren from the right and Wright from the center, around to the left, turn Lee's flank, and force him to move southward.

On the evening of the 12th, that ever-to-be-remembered day of fearful carnage, the sad news came to Lee of the death of Gen. James Ewell Brown Stuart, the "Jeb" Stuart of the Confederacy and of history, who had fallen, the day before, at the Yellow tavern, a few miles to the north of Richmond, in repulsing an attempt of Sheridan to capture that city. Fully occupied with the enemy in his front, Lee waited until the quiet of the 20th before officially announcing to his army the great loss he had sustained, a loss only second, in its far-reaching consequences, to that of "Stonewall" Jackson. In his tribute to this grand leader of his cavalry corps, he said:

Among the gallant soldiers who have fallen in this war, General Stuart was second to none in valor, in zeal, and in unflinching devotion to his country. His achievements form a conspicuous part of the history of this army, with which his name and services will forever be associated. To military capacity of a high order and to the nobler virtues of the soldier, he added the brighter graces of a pure life, guided and sustained by the Christian's faith and hope. The mysterious hand of an all-wise God has removed him from the scene of his usefulness and fame. His grateful countrymen will mourn his loss and cherish his memory. To his comrades in arms he has left the proud recollection of his deeds and the inspiring influence of his example.

Notwithstanding Grant's recorded assertion, "I never maneuver," he spent from the 13th to the 18th of May in front of Lee, maneuvering and waiting for reinforcements, until he had rested his "tired" men, and 25,000 fresh troops were added to his numbers. On the 14th, at 7:10 of the morning, his dispatch read: