Even Sumner, bravest of men, had been staggered by the fierce assault
which had driven Sedgwick's troops like sheep across the corn-field,
nor was McClellan disposed to push matters to extremity.
Over in the West Wood, on the other hand, discouragement had no
place. Jackson had not yet abandoned hope of sweeping the enemy from
the field. He was disappointed with the partial success of McLaws'
counterstroke. It had come too late. The fortuitous advance of
Smith's division, at the very crisis of the struggle, had, in all
human probability, rescued the Federal right from a terrible defeat.
Had McLaws been able to reach the East Wood he would have compelled
the hostile batteries to retreat; the Federal infantry, already
shattered and disorganised, could hardly have held on, and the line
would have been broken through. But although one opportunity had been
lost, and he was once more thrown on the defensive, Jackson's
determination to make the battle decisive of the war was still
unshaken. His judgment was never clearer. Shortly before eleven
o'clock his medical director, appalled by the number of wounded men
sent back from the front, and assured that the day was going badly,
rode to the West Wood in order to discuss the advisability of
transferring the field hospitals across the Potomac.
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