It might safely be inferred that the Northern soldiers
would no longer display the cool confidence of Gaines' Mill or even
of Malvern Hill. The places of the brave and seasoned soldiers who
had fallen would be filled by recruits; and generals who had been
out-manoeuvred on so many battle-fields might fairly be expected,
when confronted once more with their dreaded opponents, to commit
even more egregious errors than those into which they had already
fallen.
September 2.
Such were the ideas entertained by Lee and accepted by the President,
and on the morning of September 2, as soon as it was found that the
Federals had sought shelter under the forts of Alexandria, Jackson
was instructed to cross the Potomac, and form the advanced guard of
the army of invasion. It may be imagined with what feelings he issued
his orders for the march on Leesburg, above which lay an easy ford.
For more than twelve months, since the very morrow of Bull Run, he
had persistently advocated an aggressive policy.* (* In Mrs.
Jackson's Memoirs of her husband a letter is quoted from her
brother-in-law, giving the substance of a conversation with General
Jackson on the conduct of the war.
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