“I have received your despatch, and reverently unite with you in giving praise to God for the success with which he has crowned our arms.  In the name of the people, I offer my cordial thanks to yourself and the troops under your command, for this addition to the unprecedented series of great victories which our army has achieved.  The universal rejoicing produced by this happy result will be mingled with a general regret for the good and the brave who are numbered among the killed and the wounded.”

R. E. Lee, General.

The following is equally characteristic:—­

Headquartersarmy of the Potomac,
camp near Falmouth, Va., May 13, 1863. 
To his Excellency, President of the United States.

Is it asking too much to inquire your opinion of my Order No. 49? 
If so, do not answer me.

Jackson is dead, and Lee beats McClellan in his untruthful bulletins.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Joseph Hooker,
Major-General Commanding.

XXXV.

Operations of the cavalry corps.

As was briefly related in the early part of this work, Hooker issued orders to Gen. Stoneman, the commanding-officer of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, on the 12th of April, to move the succeeding day for the purpose of cutting the communications of the enemy.  The order read as follows:—­

Headquartersarmy of the Potomac,
camp near Falmouth, Va., April 12, 1863. 
Commanding Officer, Cavalry Corps.

I am directed by the major-general commanding to inform you that you will march at seven o’clock A.M., on the 13th inst., with all your available force, except one brigade, for the purpose of turning the enemy’s position on his left, and of throwing your command between him and Richmond, isolating him from his supplies, checking his retreat, and inflicting on him every possible injury which will tend to his discomfiture and defeat.

To accomplish this, the general suggests that you ascend the Rappahannock by the different routes, keeping well out of the view of the enemy, and throwing out well to the front and flank small parties to mask your movement, and to cut off all communication with the enemy, by the people in their interest living on this side of the river.  To divert suspicion it may not be amiss to have word given out that you are in pursuit of Jones’s guerillas, as they are operating extensively in the Shenandoah Valley, in the direction of Winchester.  He further suggests that you select for your place of crossing the Rappahannock, some point to the west of the Alexandria and Orange Railroad, which can only be determined by the circumstances as they are found on the arrival of your advance.