n enumerated.
Those of the centre and the right, although A.P. Hill reported only
350 casualties, had hardly been less severe. In all 9,500 officers
and men, one-fourth of the total strength, had fallen, and many of
the regiments had almost disappeared.* (* "One does not look for
humour in a stern story like this, but the Charleston Courier account
of the battle contains the following statement: 'They [the
Confederates] fought until they were cut to pieces, and then
retreated only because they had fired their last round!'" General
Palfrey, The Antietam and Fredericksburg.) The 17th Virginia, for
instance, of Longstreet's command, took into battle 9 officers and 46
men; of these 7 officers and 24 men were killed or wounded, and 10
taken prisoners, leaving 2 officers and 12 men to represent a
regiment which was over 1000 strong at Bull Run. Yet as the men sank
down to rest on the line of battle, so exhausted that they could not
be awakened to eat their rations; as the blood cooled and the tension
on the nerves relaxed, and even the officers, faint with hunger and
sickened with the awful slaughter, looked forward with apprehension
to the morrow, from one indomitable heart the hope of victory had not
yet vanished. In the deep silence of the night, more oppressive than
the stunning roar of battle, Lee, still mounted, stood on the
highroad to the Potomac, and as general after general rode in wearily
from the front, he asked quietly of each, "How is it on your part of
the line?" Each told the same tale: their men were worn out; the
enemy's numbers were overwhelming; there was nothing left but to
retreat across the Potomac before daylight. Even Jackson had no other
counsel to offer. His report was not the less impressive for his
quiet and respectful tone. He had had to contend, he said, against
the heaviest odds he had ever met. Many of his divisional and brigade
commanders were dead or wounded, and his loss had been severe. Hood,
who came next, was quite unmanned. He exclaimed that he had no men
left. "Great God!" cried Lee, with an excitement he had not yet
displayed, "where is the splendid division you had this morning?"
"They are lying on the field, where you sent them," was the reply,
"for few have straggled. My division has been almost wiped out."

After all had given their opinion, there was an appalling silence,
which seemed to last for several minutes, and then General Lee,
rising erect in his stirrups, said, "Gentlem