This state of indecision continued until nearly the middle of August.  An incident then occurred which clearly indicated the enemy’s intentions.  General Burnside was known to have reached Hampton Roads from the Southern coast with a considerable force, and the direction which his flotilla now took would show the design of the Federal authorities.  If a new advance was intended from the James, the flotilla would ascend that river; if General Pope’s army was looked to for the real movement, General Burnside would go in that direction.  The secret was discovered by the afterward celebrated Colonel John S. Mosby, then a private, and just returned, by way of Fortress Monroe, from prison in Washington.  He ascertained, when he disembarked, that Burnside’s flotilla was about to move toward the Rappahannock, and, aware of the importance of the information, hastened to communicate it to General Lee.  He was admitted, at the headquarters of the latter near Richmond, to a private interview, and when General Lee had finished his conversation with the plain-looking individual, then almost unknown, he was in possession of the information necessary to determine his plans.  The Rappahannock, and not the James, was seen to be the theatre of the coming campaign, and General Lee’s whole attention was now directed to that quarter.

Jackson had already struck an important blow there, cooeperating vigorously, as was habitual with him, in the general plan of action.  General McClellan had endeavored by a feint to hold Lee at Richmond.  By a battle now, Jackson hastened the retreat of the army under McClellan from James River.  With his three divisions, Jackson crossed the Rapidan, and, on the 9th of August, attacked the advance force of General Pope at Cedar Mountain.  The struggle was obstinate, and at one time Jackson’s left was driven back, but the action terminated at nightfall in the retreat of the Federal forces, and the Confederate commander remained in possession of the field.  He was too weak, however, to hold his position against the main body of the Federal army, which was known to be approaching; he accordingly recrossed the Rapidan to the vicinity of Gordonsville, and here he was soon afterward joined by General Lee, with the great bulk of the Confederate army.

Such were the events which succeeded the battles of the Chickahominy, transferring hostilities to a new theatre, and inaugurating the great campaigns of the summer and autumn of 1862 in Northern Virginia and Maryland.

III.

LEE ADVANCES FROM THE RAPIDAN.

General Lee, it will thus be seen, had proceeded in his military manoeuvres with the utmost caution, determined to give his adversaries no advantage, and remain in front of the capital until it was free from all danger.  But for the daring assault upon General McClellan, on the Chickahominy, his critics would no doubt have charged him with weakness and indecision now; but, under any circumstances, it is certain that he would have proceeded in the same manner, conducting operations in the method which his judgment approved.