XXIV.
THE RETREAT.
Crossing James River, above the city, I pushed after the army, which I
rejoined on the evening of the 4th, as it was crossing the Appomattox
opposite Amelia Court-House.
It reached that village on Wednesday April 5th, and you could see at a
glance that its spirit was unbroken. As to General Lee, his resolution
up to that time had astonished all who saw him. Never had he seemed in
more buoyant spirits.
"I have got my army safe out of its breastworks," he said, "and in
order to follow me, my enemy must abandon his lines, and can derive no
further benefit from his railroads, or James River."[1]
[Footnote 1: His words.]
It was only the faint-hearts who lost hope. Lee was not of those.
Mounted upon his old iron-gray--at the head of his old army, if his
little handful of about fifteen thousand men could be called such--Lee
was still the great cavalier. The enemy had not yet checkmated him: his
heart of hope was untouched. He would cut his way through, and the red
flag should again float on victorious fields!
The army responded to the feeling of its chief. The confidence of the
men in Lee was as great as on his days of victory. You would have said
that the events of the last few days were, in the estimation of the
troops, only momentary reverses.
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