The woods were like a
heavy curtain in his front. His left wing was placed so as to be of
absolutely no value. His right flank was in the air. One of the roads
on which he must depend for retreat was readily assailable by the enemy.
And he had in his rear a treacherous river, which after a few hours'
rain might become impassable, with but a single road and ford secured to
him with reasonable certainty.
And, prone as we had always been to act upon unwarrantable over-
estimates of the strength of our adversaries, Hooker had not this reason
to allege for having retired to await Lee's attack. For he had just
received excellent information from Richmond, to the effect that Lee's
rations amounted to fifty-nine thousand daily; and we have seen that he
told Slocum, on Thursday, that his column of nearly forty thousand men
was much stronger than any force Lee could detach against him. Hooker
acknowledges as much in his testimony before the Committee on the
Conduct of the War, when, in answer to the question, "What portion of
the enemy lay between you and Gen. Sedgwick?" he replied:--
"Lee's army at Fredericksburg numbered sixty thousand, not including the
artillery, cavalry, and the forces stationed up the river, occupying the
posts at Culpeper and Gordonsville.
Pages:
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86