THE CONFEDERATE CANA TRY IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN. 2 si
aii J my command followed. We then found ourselves in a very unusualCondition: we were almost in the immediate presence of the enemy with oure avalry gone. Stuart was undertaking another wild ride around the Federalarmy. We knew nothing of Meade’s movements further then the report mySe out had made. We did not know, except by surmise, when or where toexpect to find Meade, nor whether he was lying in wait or advancing. TheConfederates moved down the Gettysburg road on June 30th, encounteredthe Federals on July 1st, and a severe engagement followed. The Federals^ere driven entirely from the field and forced back through the streets ofGettysburg to Cemetery Hill, which had been previously selected as a FederalAllying-point and was occupied by a reserve force of the Eleventh Corps.
THE CONFEDERATE CAVALRY IN THE GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.
is generally agreed by Southern writers thatWie battle of Gettysburg was the result of anff ° l| i- ei ital collision of armies. General Lee inj says in his report of the campaign that hisof'a 6 WaS C * U6 i£ norauce °i- tbe movements
the enemy ; and the absence of a portion of theth under Stuart, or rather its separation fromj ® ari ny, ig assigned as the primary cause of itsbv n 1 ' 6 General Long, the biographer of Lee, and^ General Longstreet. Both ignore the fact thatq aai ’t left with General Lee, under command of^heral Beverly H. Robertson, a larger body ofalr y than he took with him. General Longa iges that Stuart’s expedition around Hooker waslov 6 e ’^ er from “ a misapprehension of orders oriin 6 i-°^ cclet of a bold raid” (which, of course,Pues disobedience); and General Longstreet,ai 6 admitting that Stuart may have acted byQority 0 f Lee, sa y S that jt was undertakenp ot mst his own orders, which were to cross the^idg tna<i Shepherdstown, west of the Blue
'Va'+ General Lee was greatly embarrassed bySVas 1 °f intelligence of the movements of the enemyPot ll0 ^ ^ we G le lack of cavalry ; and Stuart is]j ee '’ es Ponsible for the inefficient manner in which
Vas served.
\ Vh
tin 1611 was determined that Stuart should takeTieb of cavalry to join Ewell on the Sus-
an na and leave his other two to perform out-duty for the army in Virginia , General Lee
GeADQpAETnus, Mri.r.woor), June22d, 1863,7 r. m.
'GlSNnitAn J. E. B. Stuart, Commanding Cavalry .
I,, . VL: General Lee lias inclosed to mo this letter forItojOforwarded to you provided you ran be sparedtile f 1 Vont, and provided I think you can move across’ Vf Mn ] on )ac Without disclosing our plans. lie speaks ofU 1( , ' av uig via Hopewell Gap and passing by the reartliiiik tw"^ y°'i can get through by that route, IPlapn ’or .I'ou will bo less likely to indicate what ourP-Ur. j o than if you sliould cross by passing to ourl^Sesf ’ <>l Wai 'd t-lio letter of instructions with these■‘fetr,, Please advise me of the condition of affairs
> 0 4 01 ’ leave, and order General Hampton — whom I11)6 at ivr-n ° u " ^ l° llve here In command — to report toultvood either hy letter or in person, as may he
was in the Shenandoah Valley with the corps ofHill and Longstreet. The latter was holding thegaps and Stuart was guarding the approaches tothem east of the ridge. Hence Stuart came underLongstreet’s orders. Hooker’s headquarters werein Fairfax, with his army spread out like a fan—his left being at Thoroughfare Gap and his righton the Potomac at Leesburg. On returning froma seout, I reported to Stuart the scattered conditionof Hooker’s corps, and lie determined, with the ap-proval of General Lee, to pass around, or ratherthrough, them, as the shortest route to Ewell.There was an opportunity besides to inflict muchdamage and to cut off communication betweenWashington and the North.
I have lately discovered documents in the ar-chives of tiie War Department that set at rest thequestion of Stuart’s alleged disobedience of orders,and show that General Longstreet then approved aplan which he now condemns as “ a wild ride aroundthe Federal army.” He directed Stuart to passaround the rear of the enemy in preference to cross-ing west of the ridge, in order to prevent disclos-ing our designs.
Under date of June 22d, 7:30 P. M., he writesto General Lee : “ I have forwarded your letter toGeneral Stuart, with the suggestion that he passhy the enemy’s rear if lie thinks he may get through.”
Up to the morning of June 25th it was per-fectly practicable for Stuart to have done so. Inaccordance with Lee’s and Longstreet’s instruc-
most agreeable to him. Most respectfully, ,T. Long-street, Lieutenant-General.— N. B. T think that yourpassage of the Potomac by our rear at tbe present mo-ment will in a measure disclose our plans. You hadbetter not leave us, therefore, unless you can take theproposed route in rear of tlio enemy. J. Longstreet,Lieutenant-General. ”
“ Headquarters, 22d June, 1803. Major-General J.E. B. Stuart, Commanding Cavalry . General : I havejust received your note of 7:45 this morning to GeneralLongstreet. I judge the efforts of the enemy yesterdaywere to arrest our progress and ascertain our where-abouts. Perhaps he is satisfied. Do you know wherelie is and what lie is doing! T fear he will steal a inarchon us and get across the Potomac before we are aware.