Jackson's army marched swiftly and silently, while that of Pope slept.
The plan of Lee was complicated and delicate to the last degree, but
Jackson, the mainspring in this organism, never doubted that he could
carry it out. His division soon left the rest of the army far behind,
as they marched steadily on over the hills, the fate of the nation almost
in the hollow of their hands.
The foot cavalry of Jackson were proud of their ability that night.
They carried only three days' rations, expecting to feed off the enemy
at the end of that time. Near midnight they lay down and slept a while,
but long before dawn they were in line again marching over the hills and
across the mountains. There were skirmishers in advance on either side,
but they met no Union scouts. The march of Jackson's great fighting
column was still unseen and unsuspected. A single Union scout or a
message carried by a woman or child might destroy the whole plan, as a
grain of dust stops all the wheels and levers of a watch, but neither the
scout, the woman nor the child appeared.
Toward dawn the marching Southerners heard far behind them the thunder of
guns along the Rappahannock.
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