THE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF CHANCELLORSVILLE.
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AUANDOKING TILE WINTER CAMP AT FALMOUTH. FROM A WAR-TIME SKETCH.
^ le “^hh °f April General Hooker gave his orders for the right wing ofp.p ai “ Tf iy to move, the Eleventh and Twelfth corps to he followed by the1 > the Eleventh and Twelfth to cross the Rappahannock at Kelly’s Ford,the Rapidan River at Germanna Ford; the Fifth Corps marching frome . y’ s Ford to Ely’s Ford, nearer to the mouth of the Rapidan and to Clian-^ orsville. The left wing of the army, under General Sedgwick, was ordered2 n,f r ° ss the Rappahannock below Fredericksburg on the morning of theVj ’ dut Y was to keep the enemy as long as possible before Fredericks-po to pursue him if he attempted to fall back on Richmond, and to takevil) SeSS ^ 0n °t his works and his line of retreat if he marched upon Chancellors-jj e ; in other words, Sedgwick was told to hold Lee at Fredericksburg until^ker could come down upon him from Chancellorsville and crush him.
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e light wing of the army crossed Kelly’s Ford on the morning of the
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1 and the Eleventh and Twelfth corps reached Germanna Ford thatUl 8'- I had the advance of this column with two regiments of cavalry
a battery of horse artillery; the third regiment of the cavalry brigade IWith the Fifth Corps to Ely’s Ford. In the afternoon, at Germannana-’ ^ ^'prised and captured a picket of some fifty of Stuart’s cavalry
Se ^ levs - With them was an engineer officer belonging to Stuart’s staff. On0 g/ e king the party, as is done with all prisoners, I found on this engineerK ( a v ery bulky volume, which proved to be a diary that he had been^ hHig throughout the war. I spent the greater part of the night in readingJ hopes of finding something that would be of advantage to us ; nor was0 p appointed. This diary stated that in the first week in March a councila tt^ ai ' dad keen held at General Stuart’s headquarters, which had been(.° r ^! ldp d by Generals Jackson, A. P. Hill , Ewell, and Stuart. They were in* 1 ereilc e over five hours, and came to the decision that the next battled he at or near Chancellorsville, and that that position must be prepared.