"
The Secretary of War agreed with him that the sacrifice would be too
great, and so, at a time when Hooker was becoming active on the
Rappahannock, Lee's lieutenant was quietly investing Suffolk, one
hundred and twenty miles away.
From that moment the Commander-in-Chief abandoned all hope that his
missing divisions would be with him when Hooker moved. Bitterly
indeed was he to suffer for his selection of a commander for his
detached force. The loss of 3000 men at Suffolk, had the works been
stormed, and Hood and Pickett marched instantly to the Rappahannock,
would have been more than repaid. The addition of 12,000 fine
soldiers, flushed with success, and led by two of the most brilliant
fighting generals in the Confederate armies, would have made the
victory of Chancellorsville a decisive triumph. Better still had
Longstreet adhered to his original orders. But both he and Mr. Seddon
forgot, as Jackson never did, the value of time, and the grand
principle of concentration at the decisive point.
Happily for the South, Hooker, although less flagrantly, was also
oblivious of the first axiom of war. As soon as the weather improved
he determined to move against Richmond.
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