With this force in the West Rosecrans could be crushed
and Grant driven from his design of opening the Mississippi.
Lee, flushed with his victories, naturally objected to the weakening of
his army by such a division. He proposed a more daring and effective way
of relieving Vicksburg.
He would raise his army to eighty-five thousand men, clear Virginia of
the enemy and sweep into Pennsylvania, carry the war into the North,
forage on its rich fields, capture Harrisburg and march on Washington.
Davis did not wish to risk this invasion of Northern soil. But his
situation was peculiar. His relations with Lee had been remarkable for
their perfect accord. They had never differed on an essential point of
political or military strategy. Davis' pride in Lee's genius was
unbounded, his confidence in his judgment perfect.
Lee was absolutely sure that his army raised to eighty-five thousand
effective men could go anywhere on the continent and do anything within
human power. He had crushed McClellan's army of two hundred thousand
with seventy-five thousand men, and driven him from his entrenchments at
Richmond down the Peninsula. With sixty thousand he had crushed Pope and
hurled his army into the entrenchments at Washington, a bleeding,
disorganized mob.
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