Five days later, on the 7th of August, Jackson received certain intelligence that General Burnside, with a considerable portion of McClellan's force, had embarked, and was on the way to join Pope.
He determined to strike a blow at once, and marched with his entire force from Gordonsville for Barnett Ford on the Rapidan.
At daybreak next morning the cavalry crossed the river and attacked and routed a body of Federal cavalry on the road to Culpepper Courthouse.On the following day Jackson came up with his infantry to a point about eight miles from Culpepper, where Pope's army, 32,000 strong, were stationed upon the crest of a hill.General Ewell's division, which was the only one then up, at once advanced, and, after a severe artillery fight, gained a point on a hill where his guns could command the enemy's position.
Jackson's division now came up, and as it was moving into position General Winder was killed by a shell.For some hours Jackson did not attempt to advance, as Hill's division had not come up.Encouraged by this delay, the enemy at five o'clock in the afternoon took the offensive and advanced through some cornfields lying between the two armies and attacked Ewell's division on the Confederate right; while shortly afterward they fell with overwhelming strength on Jackson's left, and, attacking it in front, flank, and rear, drove it back, and pressed upon it with such force that the day appeared lost.
At this moment Jackson himself rode down among the confused and wavering troops, and by his voice and example rallied them.
At the same moment the old Stonewall Brigade came up at a run and poured their fire into the advancing enemy.Jackson led the troops he had rallied forward.The Stonewall Brigade fell upon the enemy's flank and drove them back with terrible slaughter.Other brigades came up, and there was a general charge along the whole Confederate line, and the Federals were driven back a mile beyond the position they had occupied at the commencement of the fight to the shelter of some thick woods.Four hundred prisoners were taken and over 5,000 small -arms.
The battle was known as Cedar Run, and it completely checked Pope's advance upon Richmond.The troops were too much exhausted to follow up their victory, but Jackson urged them to press forward.They moved a mile and a half in advance, and then found themselves so strongly opposed that Jackson, believing that the enemy must have received reinforcements, halted his men.
Colonel Jones was sent forward to reconnoiter, and discovered that a large force had joined the enemy.
For two days Jackson remained on the field he had won; his troops had been busy in burying the dead, in collecting the wounded and sending them to the rear, and in gathering the arms thrown away by the enemy in their flight.Being assured that the enemy were now too strong to be attacked by the force under his command, Jackson fell back to Orange Courthouse.There was now a few days' delay, while masses of troops were on both sides moving toward the new field of action.McClellan marched his troops across the James Peninsula from Harrison's Landing to Yorktown, and there the greater portion were embarked in transports and taken up the Rappahannock to Aquia Creek, landed there, and marched to Fredericksburg.
Lee, instead of attacking McClellan on his march across the peninsula, determined to take his army north at once to join Jackson and attack Pope before he was joined by McClellan's army.But Pope, although already largely reinforced, retired hastily and took up a new position so strongly fortified that ho could not he attacked.General Stuart had come up with Lee, and was in command of all the cavalry.
"We shall see some work now," was the remark round the fires of the 7th Virginian Cavalry.Hitherto, although they had been several times engaged with the Federals, they had been forced to remain for the most part inactive owing to the vast superiority in force of the enemy's cavalry; but now that Stuart had come up they felt certain that, whatever the disparity of numbers, there would soon he some dashing work to be done.
Except when upon actual duty the strict lines of military discipline were much relaxed among the cavalry, the troopers being almost all the sons of farmers and planters and of equal social rank with their officers, many of whom were their personal friends or relatives.Several of Vincent's schoolfellows were in the ranks, two or three of them were fellow officers, and these often gathered together round a camp fire and chatted over old schooldays and mutual friends.
Many of these had already fallen, for the Virginian regiments of Stonewall Jackson's brigade had been terribly thinned; but the loss of so many friends and the knowledge that their own turn might come next did not suffice to lessen the high spirits of the young fellows.The hard work, the rough life, the exposure and hardship, had braced and invigorated them all, and they were attaining a far more vigorous manhood than they would ever have possessed had they grown lip in the somewhat sluggish and enervating life led by young planters.
Many of these young men had, until the campaign began, never done half an hour's hard work in their lives.They had been waited upon by slaves, and their only exercise had been riding.For months now they had almost lived in the saddle, had slept in the open air, and had thought themselves lucky if they could obtain a sufficient meal of the roughest food to satisfy their hunger once a day.In this respect, however, the cavalry were better off than their comrades of the infantry, for scouting as they did in small parties over a wide extent of country, they were sure of a meal and a hearty welcome whenever they could spare time to stop for half an hour at the house of a farmer.
