my took
4000 prisoners, 25 cannon, 250 wagons, 400 horses, 269 small arms and
quantities of stores.]

[Footnote 3: The map only shows one point where Lee crossed into
Maryland, but the army divided before reaching the Potomac, one part
crossing at Williamsport, and the other at Shepherdstown, and, uniting
at Hagerstown, moved on toward Chambersburg. From this point, Lee sent a
portion of Ewell's division as far north as Carlisle, while another
portion marched to York, then to Wrightsville, on the Susquehanna river,
all returning in time to meet the Union army at Gettysburg.]

[Footnote 4: General Longstreet, in his book "From Manassas to
Appomattox," says the Confederate forces that crossed the Potomac were
75,568, and fixes the total of the Union army at 100,000, in round
figures. General Meade's monthly returns for June 30, shows 99,131
present for duty and equipped at Gettysburg.]

CHAPTER VII.

_From Gettysburg to the Wilderness._

"But who shall break the guards that wait
Before the awful face of Fate?
The tattered standards of the South
Were shrivelled at the cannon's mouth,
And all her hopes were desolate."

The main army marched slowly back up the valley, crossing at the various
gaps east of Winchester, and occupied a position on the south bank of
the Rapidan, a branch of the Rappahannock.

The cavalry under Stuart took the east side of the Blue Ridge and
marched in a parallel line with the infantry. This took me by my old
home. I could stop only for a few minutes. I remember that I was
upbraided for my appearance and was compared to the "Prodigal Son." But
when I told them what I had passed through, they were ready to kill the
fatted calf. I had, though, no time for this, as my regiment was on the
march. Besides, I knew there was no calf.

The enemy kept at a safe distance, and did not molest us. We halted at
Brandy Station, where we had fought the battle of June 9th, a month
before. They halted at the Rappahannock and occupied both sides of the
river.

The land for miles and miles around Brandy Station was almost level and
entirely denuded of fences, the soldiers having used them for firewood.
It was an ideal battlefield.

Here was the home of John Minor Botts, a distinguished Virginian,
respected and protected by the Northern army for his Union sentiments,
and by the South for his integrity. He had a beautiful home and a fine,
large estate, a choice herd of milch cows