., utterly unsuspicious of danger and unprepared for a
contest. Notwithstanding the reports of Jackson's movement from
spies and scouts, Howard ordered no change in his lines.

An attempt has been made to hold Colonel Farmer responsible for
this surprise, on the ground that he should have charged the battery
and brought in some prisoners, who would give full information;
but there had been warnings enough, and prisoners enough, and as
Colonel Farmer had but forty men, he would have had to dismount
half of them to make the assault, and with part of his force holding
the horses, he could only have used about twenty men in the attack,
which is rather too few to capture guns supported by an army.
Besides, Farmer was sent out by General Pleasonton with specific
instructions, and was not obliged to recognize the authority of
other officers who desired him to make a Don Quixote of himself to
no purpose.

If the two wings of the rebel army had been kept apart, the small
force left under Lee could easily have been crushed, or driven off
toward Richmond. The commander of the Eleventh Corps, however,
far from making any new works, did not man those he had, but left
his own lines and went with Barlow's brigade to see what Sickles
was doing.

The subsequent investigation of this sad business by the Congressional
Committee on the Conduct of the War was very much of a farce, and
necessarily unreliable; for so long as both Hooker and Howard were
left in high command, it was absurd to suppose their subordinates
would testify against them. Any officer that did so would have
soon found his military career brought to a close.

Howard was in one or two instances mildly censured for not keeping
a better lookout, but as a general thing the whole blame was thrown
on the Germans. Hooker himself attributed the trouble to the fact
that Howard did not follow up Jackson's movements, and allowed his
men to stray from their arms.

A great French military writer has said, "It is permissible for an
officer to be defeated; but never to be surprised."

It is, of course, only fair to hear what Howard himself has to say
in relation to this matter.

He writes in his official report of the battle as follows:

"Now as to the cause of the disaster to my corps.

"_First_.--Though constantly threatened, and apprised of the moving
of the enemy, yet the woods were so dense that he was able to move
a large force, whose exact whereabouts neither patr