force, and of the strength
of that force, owing to the weakness of his cavalry, he was not
aware. The news from the Stafford Heights was disquieting. As soon as
the fog had lifted, about nine o'clock in the morning, the signal
officers and balloonists had descried long columns of troops and
trains marching rapidly towards Chancellorsville.* (* O.R. volume 25
pages 323, 336.) This was duly reported by the telegraph,* (* Ibid
page 326. The telegraph, however, appears to have worked badly, and
dispatches took several hours to pass from Falmouth to
Chancellorsville.) and it was correctly inferred to signify that Lee
was concentrating against the Federal right. But at the same time
various movements were observed about Hamilton's Crossing; columns
appeared marching from the direction of Gurney's Station; there was
much traffic on the railway, and several deserters from Lee's army
declared, on being examined, that Hood's and Pickett's divisions had
arrived from Richmond.* (* Ibid page 327.) The statements of these
men--who we may suspect were not such traitors as they appeared--were
confirmed by the fact that Sedgwick, who was without cavalry, had
noticed no diminution in the force which held the ridge before him.

It is easy, then, to understand Hooker's decision to stand on the
defensive. With a prudent foresight which does him much credit,
before he marched in the morning he had ordered the position about
Chancellorsville, covering his lines of retreat to United States and
Ely's Fords, to be reconnoitred and intrenched, and his front, as Lee
said, was undoubtedly very strong. He would assuredly have done
better had he attacked vigorously when he found the Confederates
advancing. His sudden retrograde movement, especially as following
the swift and successful manoeuvres which had turned Lee's position,
could not fail to have a discouraging effect upon the troops; and if
Sedgwick had been ordered to storm the Fredericksburg lines, the
whole Federal force could have been employed, and the Confederates,
assailed in front and rear simultaneously, must, to say the least,
have been embarrassed. But in abandoning his design of crushing Lee
between his two wings, and in retiring to the stronghold he had
prepared, Hooker did what most ordinary generals would have done,
especially one who had served on the losing side at Fredericksburg.
He had there learned the value of intrenchments. He had seen division
after division shatter its