e retreat of the Rebel
army, and had inflicted incalculable losses of men and materials. But
the pursuit of our main army was not correspondingly vigorous. Two
pretty good reasons may be assigned for this seeming incompetency or
want of energy. The first reason is found in the fact that scarcely more
than a brigade of infantry had been kept in reserve during the great and
destructive battle of Gettysburg, while the three days of struggle had
well-nigh exhausted our entire strength. Rest was therefore greatly
needed, and a general engagement was to be guarded against. It should
also be remembered that nearly one fourth of our entire army was _hors
de combat_. The second reason may be found in the heavy rains which
fell, "impeding pursuers," as one writer says, "more than pursued,
though they need not." But the retreating army has this advantage; it
usually chooses its own route, which it can generally cover or hide by
means of stratagem, so that it requires time as well as study to
effectually pursue. Perhaps a third reason for our tardiness of pursuit
should be presented. Does it not appear to be an overruling act of
Providence? Had General Meade advanced, as it seems he might have done
with the resources at his command, against the demoralized, decimated,
and flying army, with its ammunition quite exhausted, and a swollen
river, unfordable and bridgeless, between it and safety, Lee could not
have escaped annihilation. But the public sentiment of the country,
though forming and improving rapidly, was not yet prepared for such a
victory. We needed to spend more treasure, spill more blood, sacrifice
more precious lives, to lift us up to those heights of public and
political virtue, where we could be safely entrusted with so dear a
boon. We were not then prepared for peace, that sovereign balm for a
nation's woes.

The tardiness with which our movements were made enabled the enemy to
reach a good position near Hagerstown, which he began to fortify in such
a manner as to cover his crossing. Meantime we understood that
successful efforts were made to rebuild the bridge at Falling Waters.

General Meade, in his official report, gives the following account of
his pursuit: "The fifth and sixth of July were employed in succoring the
wounded and burying the dead. Major-General Sedgwick, commanding the
Sixth Corps, having pushed the pursuit of the enemy as far as the
Fairfield Pass and the mountains, and reporting that the pass w