When Lee failed to snatch that
from the bloody heights of Gettysburg--when, for want of ammunition,
and to guard his communications, he returned to the Potomac--then the
people began to lose heart, and say that, since the death of Jackson,
the cause was lost.
Gettysburg in fact is the turning point of the struggle. From that day
dated the decadence of the Southern arms.
At Chancellorsville, the ascending steps of victory culminated--and
stopped.
At Gettysburg, the steps began to descend into the valley of defeat,
and the shadow of death.
What I shall show the reader in this final series of my memoirs, is Lee
and his paladins--officers and privates of the old army of Northern
Virginia--fighting on to the end, true in defeat as in victory, in the
dark days as in the bright--closing up the thin ranks, and standing by
the colors to the last.
That picture may be gloomy--but it will be sublime, too.
BOOK II.
THE FLOWER OF CAVALIERS.
I.
UNDER "STUART'S OAK."
Crossing to the south bank of the Potomac, Stuart established his
headquarters at "The Bower," an old mansion on the Opequon.
The family at the ancient hall were Stuart's cherished friends, and our
appearance now, with the red flag floating and the bugle sounding a gay
salute as we ascended the hill, was hailed with enthusiasm and
rejoicing.
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