But a third failure might
be ruinous; the Confederate ammunition was nearly exhausted; the
communications with the Potomac were threatened,--and Lee determined to
retire.
That is the true history of the matter.
The force which fell back before Meade was an army of veterans, with
unshaken nerves. It required only a glance to see that these men were
still dangerous. They were ready to fight again, and many raged at the
retreat. Like Lee's "old war horse," they were anxious to try another
struggle, to have the enemy return the compliment, and come over to
charge _them_!
Then commenced that singular retreat.
The trains retired in a long line stretching over many miles, by the
Chambersburg road, while the army marched by the shorter route, between
the trains and the enemy, ready to turn and tear the blue huntsmen if
they attempted to pursue.
So the famous army of Northern Virginia--great in defeat as in
victory--took its slow way back toward the soil of Virginia. Never was
spectacle stranger than that retreat from Gettysburg. The badly wounded
had been sent with the army trains; but many insisted upon keeping
their places in the ranks. There was something grim and terrible in
these bandaged arms, and faces, and forms of Lee's old soldiers--but
you did not think of that as you looked into their pale faces.
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