e followed by a triumphant march of the
Federal forces upon Richmond. In the council of war between Lee and
Jackson, on the night of the 1st of May, these considerations were
duly weighed, and the whole situation discussed. In the end,
the hazardous movement against General Hooker's right, beyond
Chancellorsville, was determined upon. This was first suggested, it is
said, by Jackson--others have attributed the suggestion to Lee. The
point is not material. The plan was adopted, and Lee determined to
detach a column of about twenty-one thousand men, under Jackson, to
make the attack on the next day. His plan was to await the arrival
of Jackson at the point selected for attack, meanwhile engaging the
enemy's attention by demonstrations in their front. When Jackson's
guns gave the signal that he was engaged, the force in front of the
enemy was to advance and participate in the assault; and thus, struck
in front and flank at once. General Hooker, it was hoped, would be
defeated and driven back across the Rappahannock.

There was another possible result, the defeat of Lee and Jackson by
General Hooker. But the desperate character of the situation rendered
it necessary to disregard this risk.

By midnight this plan had been determined upon, and at dawn Jackson
began to move.

JACKSON'S ATTACK AND FALL.

On the morning of the 2d of May, General Lee was early in the saddle,
and rode to the front, where he remained in personal command of the
force facing the enemy's main line of battle throughout the day.

This force consisted of the divisions of Anderson and McLaws, and
amounted to thirteen thousand men. That left at Fredericksburg, as we
have said, under General Early, numbered six thousand men; and the
twenty-one thousand which Jackson had taken with him, to strike at the
enemy's right, made up the full body of troops under Lee, that is to
say, a little over forty thousand, artillerymen included. The cavalry,
numbering four or five thousand, were, like the absent Federal
cavalry, not actually engaged.

In accordance with the plan agreed upon between Lee and Jackson, the
force left in the enemy's front proceeded to engage their attention,
and desultory fighting continued throughout the day. General
Lee meanwhile awaited the sound of Jackson's guns west of
Chancellorsville, and must have experienced great anxiety at this
trying moment, although, with his accustomed self-control, he
displayed little or none. We shall now