had seen. The Confederate soldiers they had passed on the railway after arriving at Lynchburg were sent on, the first portion marching to Staunton to join Jackson, while the remainder were at once pushed on by the northern road through Gordonsville and back to Ashlands station by the very line by which Jackson's army was moving on to unite with Lee.

Arrangements were made with great care in the valley to deceive Fremont and cause him to fear an attack rather than the withdrawal of the troops opposed to him. All transit up and down was effectually checked by the cavalry outposts, who pressed the Federals so closely as to lead them to believe that they were well supported. Jackson also ordered that, as much as possible, all communication between the cavalry in the advance and infantry supporting should be restricted in order that no rumours could be spread.

Colonel Munford, who commanded the cavalry, was ordered to take every step to foster the belief that the army was about to resume the offensive. Professor Dabney, in his "Life of Stonewall Jackson," gives one amusing instance of Col. Munford's measures to deceive the enemy:

"As the advance of the Confederates pressed towards Fremont they met, twelve miles north of Harrisonburg, a Federal flag of truce in the hands of a major followed by a long train of surgeons and ambulances bringing a demand for the release of their wounded men. Colonel Munford had required the train to pause at his outposts, and had brought the major with one surgeon to his quarters at Harrisonburg where he entertained them with military courtesy until their request was answered by the commanding general. He found them full of boasts and arrogance; they said that the answer to their flag was exceedingly unimportant, because Fremont and Shields were about to effect a junction, when they would recover by force all they had lost and teach Jackson

a lesson which would cure his audacity When Colonel Munford received the instructions we have mentioned, he called for Mr. William Gilmer, of Albemarle, a gentleman of infinite spirit and humour, who was serving with his young kinsman as an amateur trooper, and gave him his cue. He silently left the village, but presently returned in very different fashion as an orderly with despatches from General Jackson and from Staunton. With an ostentatious clanking of spurs and sabre he ascended to Colonel Munford's quarters and knocked in a hurried manner. 'Come in,' said the gallant colonel, 'and what answer do you bring, orderly, from General Jackson? At this word the Yankee officers in the adjoining chamber were heard steathily approaching the partition for the purpose of eavesdropping, 'Why,' said Gilmer, 'the general laughed at the demand for the surrender of the wounded prisoners. He had no notion of it.' 'Do you bring any good news?' asked the colonel. 'Glorious news!' he answered, 'the road from Staunton this way is chock full of soldiers, cannon and waggons come to reinforce Jackson in the march down the valley. There is General Whiting, General Hood, General Lawton and General I-don't-know-who. I never saw so many soldiers and cannon together in my life. People say there are thirty thousand of them.' After a few such questions and answers, framed for the edification of the the eavesdroppers, Colonel Munford dismissed him and he descended to fill the hotel and the town with his glorious news. The whole place was speedily in a blaze of joy and excitement. Citizens caine to offer supplies for the approaching hosts, and bullocks, flour and bacon were about to be collected for them in delighted haste. After leaving his guests to digest their contraband news for several hours Colonel Munford at length sent for them and told them that he had a reply from his general respectfully declining to accede to their request; so that nothing now remained but to send them

back to their friends in the same honour and safety in which they had come." They departed much humbler and, as they imagined, much wiser men. He pushed his advance soon after them to Newmarket and, upon their arrival at the quarters of General Fremont near Mount Jackson, the Federal army precipitately broke up its camp and retreated to Strasburg where they began busily to fortify themselves. The Confederate cavalry then drew a cordon of pickets across the country just above them so strict that the befooled enemy never learned General Jack son's whole army was not on his front until he discovered it by the disasters of McClellan."

In consequence of these measures the Northern Government were completely deceived, and instead of expecting Jackson at Richmond and preparing to meet him there, they, on the contrary, looked for him to advance down the valley, and so uneasy were they that they absolutely refused to accede to McClellan's request that McDowell's army should advance to his aid, but drew it back nearer to Washington. In reply to McClellan's urgent, appeals for reinforcements they informed him that he would not require them, as General Lee's ranks had been depleted to the extent of 15,000 men who had been sent to unite with Jackson in the valley, while the danger of Washington had been proportionately increased.

While all this was going on Jackson with his army was on the full march for Ashlands Station, about 12 miles north of Richmond. His march was conducted with the greatest skill and secrecy. No straggling was permitted, and at all halts sentries were thrown out in front and rear, as well as upon all the lateral roads, to prevent any communication between the army and the surrounding country. No one was allowed to pass the army and proceed before it towards Richmond. No man in the whole army knew where it was going. General Ewell, who was second in command, had orders simply to march to

Charlottesville; the remainder received instructions to follow him.

While Jackson was moving down General Lee sent him a despatch asking him to arrange a time and place where they could meet to make their final arrangements. Receiving this letter when he had arrived to within some fifty miles of Richmond General Jackson, starting about 1 a.m. with a single courier, rode express to Richmond to answer it in person. His departure from his army was kept a strict secret known only to one or two staff officers. He succeeded in getting quietly into General Lee's tent near Richmond without being recognized, and his presence was carefully concealed from the troops in that neighbourhood. General Lee told me that they then finally arranged their plan of action together, which was to the following effect :

General Stuart, on the 12th June, had made his celebrated raid or reconnaissance around McClellan's army, and had discovered that it was not fortified in the rear. General Jackson was therefore ordered to march from Ashlands on the 25th of June and encamp for the night west of the Central Railroad, so as to start at 3 a. m. on the morning of the 26th and turn the enemy's works at Mechanicsville and Beaver Dam Creek. A large portion of Lee's army was, during the night of the 25th, to be moved down to the extreme left of the Confederate lines near Mechanicsville and there massed in front of the right flank of the Federals. Jackson's attack on the flank and rear of the Federals would, of course, at once oblige them to withdraw and show front in that direction; at this juncture Lee's army was to press down upon them, and, uniting with Jackson's right, they would be in a position to roll up McClellan's line from right to left, cutting him from his communications with White House, and throwing it defeated upon the White Oak Swamp.

Having arranged between them this plan General Jackson left with the same secrecy and rejoined his troops. On the morning of

the 26th after daylight General Lee's army was massed on his extreme left near Mechanicsville. Huger and Magruder were ordered to hold their positions south of the Chickahominy in the lines before Richmond. General Lee told me that he waited in that position all the earlier part of the day expecting that General Jackson would every moment open upon the enemy in their rear. As the hours passed on he became anxious, particularly as the position and numbers of his troops could be seen by the Federals from their lines. He said his great fear was that McClellan seeing the mass of his (Lee's) troops on the extreme left, and that comparatively few men were between him and Richmond, might take the initiative and by a vigorous attack probably break through the thinly manned lines of Huger and Magruder who were guarding the direct road to the Confederate capital.

General Lee therefore decided that it was absolutely necessary to commence an attack on McClellan's right at Mechanicsville in order to occupy his attention and make him uneasy as to his communications so as to prevent him taking the initiative. "I did not think it safe to wait another night," said the General, "and" (raising his left hand open and moving it forward) "I knew by pressing vigorously on his right it would keep him occupied and prevent him making an attack on my own right where I was but ill prepared to meet it. I, therefore, ordered the attack and kept it up till nightfall, driving the Federals back from Mechanicsville to Beaver Dam. The next morning I had to renew the attack for the same reasons that induced me to begin it the day before and, as soon as Jackson's troops came up in the rear, it relieved the pressure upon my men and that afternoon we won the battle of Gaines' Mill." I asked him how it was that General Jackson did not arrive in time. He replied that it was through no fault of his, and spoke in the highest terms of him. He said that Jackson thought that other men

could press on and annihilate time and space as he could himself, which was more than could be expected. Trains getting off the track and difficulties caused by the roads had also delayed him, as well as time lost while he was coming to Richmond and returning.

I shall never forget the grand old soldier explaining his position and his views about this matter, gesticulating quietly with his right hand and his left while illustrating the movements of the two wings of his army. Nothing else could have made me conceive how thoroughly he was master of the position, calculating everything, divining almost by inspiration the thoughts of his opponents, and taking his measures confidently to meet any possible hostile movement. It is not generally known why Mechanicsville was fought, and Professor Dabney, in his Life of Jackson, refers to the fact that General Jackson's advance would have turned the Federal position and have given to A. P. and D. H. Hill an easy victory, and he attributes it to the fact of the presence of General Lee and President Davis on the field, and to their urgency that an attack was made and "a bloody and useless struggle" carried on till 9 p. m. General Lee's explanation is not only a complete justification but a further proof that he was what military writers of future generations will certainly rank him—one of the greatest generals of this or of any other age.

The next day, Sunday, the general took me with him to the morning service. The church stands on the opposite side of the green, about 150 or 200 yards from the President's house. There were historic names in that little church. Besides the great hero himself, in the next pew sat his eldest son, General Custis Lee, a gallant soldier and a true gentleman; while a near pew belonged to the celebrated Commodore Maury, the author. I was also much struck with the appearance of the clergyman, a fine, manly

looking, old gentleman; with grey hair and beard, about 55 or 60 years of age, Having returned to the house after service, I was walking across the hall where General Lee and the minister happened to be standing talking together. As I was passing, the general said: "Allow me, colonel, to intro duce you to our minister, General Pendleton." I shook hands with him, and then knew for the first time, that the clergyman who had officiated in the pulpit, was the celebrated general who had been chief of artillery to Lee during a great portion of the war, and whose name so often appeared in the reports at the time.

On the same afternoon, after a quiet family dinner, I bade adieu to the General, to Mrs. Lee and their two daughters, and left by the evening packet-boat for Lynchburg. 'General Custis Lee walked with me as far as the first lock and saw me on board, and I returned to Richmond, and thence back to Canada, bearing with me reminiscences of a visit that I shall always contemplate with sincere pleasure.

General Lee impressed one exceedingly. I have seen some men whom the world esteems great men, but I have no hesitation in saying that no man ever impressed me as did General Robert E. Lee. In stature he was about five feet ten inches but, from his splendid figure and magnificent carriage as well as from the massive appearance of his head, he seemed much taller. He looked the very personification of high and pure intelligence. No one could fail to be at

once impressed, nay awed, by the calm. majesty of his intellect: while there was an almost childlike simplicity and kindness of manner that irresistibly won upon you at once. He was one of those men that made the ancients believe in demi-gods. His defeat served but to add to his greatness; for nothing could shake his equanimity. In all his reverses not a complaint escaped him, not a murmur did he utter, although he must have felt keenly the wrongs and sufferings of those for whom he had fought so well.

I shall conclude by quoting a few sentences from a speech made by General Gordon at the Lee Memorial meeting in Richmond, on the 3rd November, 1870

"Of no man whom it has ever been my fortune to meet can it be so truthfully said as of Lee, that, grand as might be your conception of the man before, he arose in incomparable majesty on more familiar acquaintance. This can be affirmed of few men who have ever lived or died, and of no other man whom it has been my fortune to approach. Like Niagara, the more you gazed the more its grandeur grew upon you, the more its majesty expanded and filled your spirit with a full satisfaction, that left a perfect delight without the slightest feeling of oppression. Grandly majestic and dignified in all his deportment, he was as genial as the sunlight of May, and not a ray of that cordial social intercourse, but brought warmth to the heart, as it did light to the understanding."