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The President wheeled his horse and rode rapidly into the front lines
until stopped by the captain of a command of cavalry.
"You are too near the front, sir, without an escort--"
The President rode beside the captain and watched him form his men for
their last charge on the enemy. He inspected the field with growing
amazement. For miles the earth was strewn with the wreck of the Northern
army--guns, knapsacks, blankets, canteens--and Brooklyn-made handcuffs!
Their defeat had been so sudden, so complete, so overwhelming, it was
impossible at first to grasp its meaning.
He passed the rugged figure of Jackson who had won his immortal title of
"Stonewall." An aide was binding a cloth about his wounded arm.
The grim General pushed aside his surgeon, raised his battered cap and
shouted:
"Hurrah for the President! Ten thousand fresh men and I will be in
Washington to-night!"
The President lifted his hat and congratulated him.
The victory of the South was complete and overwhelming. Jefferson Davis
breathed a sigh of relief for deliverance. Within two hours he knew that
this victory had not been won by superior generalship of his commanding
officers. They had been outwitted at every turn and overwhelmed by the
plan of battle their wily foe had forced upon them.
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