The day had broken without a cloud, and as the troops began their march in the fresh May morning, the green vistas of the Wilderness, grass under foot, and thick foliage overhead, were dappled with sunshine.  The men, comprehending intuitively that a daring and decisive movement was in progress, pressed rapidly forward, and General Lee, standing by the roadside to watch them pass, saw in their confident bearing the presage of success.  Soon after the first regiments had gone by Jackson himself appeared at the head of his staff.  Opposite to the Commander-in-Chief he drew rein, and the two conversed for a few moments.  Then Jackson rode on, pointing in the direction in which his troops were moving.  “His face,” says an eyewitness, “was a little flushed, as it was turned to General Lee, who nodded approval of what he said.”  Such was the last interview between Lee and Jackson.

Then, during four long hours, for the column covered at least ten miles, the flood of bright rifles and tattered uniforms swept with steady flow down the forest track.  The artillery followed, the guns drawn by lean and wiry horses, and the ammunition waggons and ambulances brought up the rear.  In front was a regiment of cavalry, the 5th Virginia, accompanied by General Fitzhugh Lee; on the flanks were some ten squadrons, moving by the tracks nearest the enemy’s outposts; a regiment of infantry, the 23rd Georgia, was posted at the cross-roads near Catherine Furnace; and the plank road was well guarded until Anderson’s troops came up to relieve the rear brigades of the Second Army Corps.

Meanwhile, acting under the immediate orders of General Lee, and most skilfully handled by McLaws and Anderson, the 10,000 Confederates who had been left in position opposite the Federal masses kept up a brisk demonstration.  Artillery was brought up to every point along the front which offered space for action; skirmishers, covered by the timber, engaged the enemy’s pickets, and maintained a constant fire, and both on the pike and the river road the lines of battle, disposed so as to give an impression of great strength, threatened instant assault.  Despite all precautions, however, Jackson’s movement did not escape the notice of the Federals.

8 A.M.

A mile north of Catherine Furnace the eminence called Hazel Grove, clear of timber, looked down the valley of the Lewis Creek, and as early as 8 A.M.  General Birney, commanding the Federal division at this point, reported the passage of a long column across his front.

The indications, however, were deceptive.  At first, it is probable, the movement seemed merely a prolongation of the Confederate front; but it soon received a different interpretation.  The road at the point where Jackson’s column was observed turned due south; it was noticed that the troops were followed by their waggons, and that they were turning their backs on the Federal lines.  Hooker, when he received Birney’s report, jumped to the conclusion that Lee, finding the direct road to Richmond, through Bowling Green, threatened by Sedgwick, was retreating on Gordonsville.