Kilpatrick and Dahlgren were preparing to
capture Richmond by a daring raid of three thousand cavalrymen.
Jennie watched him go with the determination to know the truth at all
hazards.
CHAPTER XXXVI
THE FATAL DEED
The battle of Gettysburg and the disaster of the fall of Vicksburg once
more gave to the Johnston junta in the Confederate Congress their
opportunity to harass the President.
Their power for evil had been greatly diminished by the pressure of the
swiftly moving tragedy of the war.
The appearance of this Congress was curiously plain and uninteresting.
With the exception of J. L. M. Curry of Alabama and Barksdale of
Mississippi there was not a man among them of constructive ability as a
statesman. Foote of Tennessee was noted for his high-flown English, his
endless harangues and his elaborate historical illustrations. Had his
ability been equal to the intensity of his hatred for Davis he would
have been a dangerous man to the administration. James Lyons of Virginia
stood six feet three in his stockings, had fine, even, white teeth, and
was considered the handsomest man in the assembly.
Yancey, the fierce, uncompromising agitator of secession, was too
violent to command the influence to which his genius entitled him.
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