" Lee
to Davis, September 12, 1862. O.R. volume 19 part 2 page 605.) It has
been said that the route of the Confederate army from the
Rappahannock to Chantilly might have been traced by the stains of
bloody feet along the highways; and if the statement is more graphic
than exact, yet it does not fall far short of the truth. Many a stout
soldier, who had hobbled along on his bare feet until Pope was
encountered and defeated, found himself utterly incapable of marching
into Maryland. In rear of the army the roads were covered with
stragglers. Squads of infantry, banding together for protection,
toiled along painfully by easy stages, unable to keep pace with the
colours, but hoping to be up in time for the next fight; and amongst
these were not a few officers. But this was not the worst. Lax
discipline and the absence of soldierly habits asserted themselves
with the same pernicious effect as in the Valley. Not all the
stragglers had their faces turned towards the enemy, not all were
incapacitated by physical suffering. Many, without going through the
formality of asking leave, were making for their homes, and had no
idea that their conduct was in any way peculiar.
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