g the bridges across the Chattanooga
River, which ran through the valley between the Mountain and the
Ridge, they delayed Hooker till late that afternoon, thus saving
their left from an even worse disaster than the one that overtook
their center and their right.

Sherman had desperate work against their right, as Bragg massed
every available gun and man to meet him. This massing, however,
was just what Grant wanted; for he now expected Hooker to appear
on the other flank, which Bragg would either have to give up in
despair or strengthen at the expense of the center, which Thomas
was ready to charge. But with Hooker not appearing, and Sherman
barely holding his own, Grant slipped Thomas from the leash. The
two centers then met hand to hand. But there was no withstanding
the Federal charge. Back went the Confederates, turning to bay
at their second line of defense. Here again they were overborne
by well-led superior numbers and soon put to flight. Sheridan,
of whom we shall hear again in '64, took up the pursuit. Bragg
lost all control of his men. Stores, guns, and even rifles were
abandoned. Thousands of prisoners were taken; and most of the others
were scattered in flight. The battle, the whole campaign, and even
the war in the Tennessee sector, were won.

Vicksburg meant that the trans-Mississippi South would thenceforth
wither like a severed branch. Chattanooga meant that the Union
forces had at last laid the age to the root of the tree.

CHAPTER VIII

GETTYSBURG: 1863

On the fifth of May we left Lee victorious in Virginia; but with
his indispensable lieutenant, Stonewall Jackson, mortally wounded.

Though thoroughly defeated at Chancellorsville, Hooker soon recovered
control of the Army of the Potomac and prepared to dispute Lee's
right of way. Lee faced a difficult, perhaps an insoluble, problem.
Longstreet urged him to relieve the local pressure on Vicksburg by
concentrating every available man in eastern Tennessee, not only
withdrawing Johnston's force from Grant's rear but also depleting
the Confederates in Virginia for the same purpose. Then, combining
these armies from east and west with the one already there under
Bragg, the united Confederates were to crush Rosecrans in their
immediate front and make Cincinnati their great objective. Lee,
however, dared not risk the loss of his Virginian bases in the
meantime; and so he decided on a vigorous counter-attack, right
into Pennsylvania, hoping that