division had lost touch
with the leading brigades, Ewell was left without assistance. For
some time the error was undiscovered. Jackson grew anxious. From his
station near Old Cold Harbour little could be seen of the Confederate
troops. On the ridge beyond the valley the dark lines of the enemy's
infantry were visible amongst the trees, with their well-served
batteries on the crests above. But in the valley immediately beneath,
and as well as in the forest to the right front, the dense smoke and
the denser timber hid the progress of the fight. Yet the sustained
fire was a sure token that the enemy still held his own; and for the
first time and the last his staff beheld their leader riding
restlessly to and fro, and heard his orders given in a tone which
betrayed the storm within.* (* It may be noted that Jackson's command
had now been increased by two divisions, Whiting's and D.H. Hill's,
but there had been no increase in the very small staff which had
sufficed for the Valley army. The mistakes which occurred at Gaines'
Mill, and Jackson's ignorance of the movements and progress of his
troops, were in great part due to his lack of staff officers. A most
important message, writes Dr. Dabney, involving tactical knowledge,
was carried by a non-combatant.) "Unconscious," says Dabney, "that
his veteran brigades were but now reaching the ridge of battle, he
supposed that all his strength had been put forth, and (what had
never happened before) the enemy was not crushed."* (*Dabney, volume
2, page 194.) Fortunately, the error of the aide-de-camp had already
been corrected by the vigilance of the chief of the staff, and the
remainder of the Valley army was coming up.

Their entry into battle was not in accordance with the intentions of
their chief. Whiting should have come in on Ewell's right, Lawton on
the right of Whiting, and Jackson's division on the right of Lawton.
Whiting led the way; but he had advanced only a short distance
through the woods when he was met by Lee, who directed him to support
General A.P. Hill.* (* Whiting's Report, O.R. volume 11 part 1 page
563.) The brigades of Law and of Hood were therefore diverted to the
right, and, deploying on either side of the Gaines' Mill road, were
ordered to assault the commanding bluff which marked the angle of the
Federal position. Lawton's Georgians, 3,500 strong, moved to the
support of Ewell; Cunningham and Fulkerson, of Winder's division,
losing direction in the th