Reading the Man by Elizabeth Brown Pryor

Author:Elizabeth Brown Pryor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2007-01-11T16:00:00+00:00

General Robert E. Lee in 1863, photographed at the studio of Minnis and Cowell in Richmond.

VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Lee’s imposing appearance before the flaming Chancellor tavern was a classic moment, his showpiece, the triumph that more than any other gave him a place among the great generals. The laurels were again won at dreadful cost, however. While attempting to follow up his devastating flank attack on May 2, Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot by his own men, wounded in the left arm and right hand. The arm was amputated, and it was at first thought that Jackson would recover; but in his weakness he contracted pneumonia and died a week later. Distraught, Lee said he wished it had been him instead of his lieutenant, and told his wife: “Any victory would be dear at such a price.”10 Unfortunately, Jackson’s death was only emblematic of the fearsome toll at Chancellorsville. Despite its success, Lee’s army counted nearly as many killed and wounded as did Hooker. Proportionally it was an appalling loss, by some estimates nearly a quarter of the participating army.11 Listen, as a private and an officer describe the aftershock of such violent death. “I have been on the battle field eight days,” Mississippian John Berryman Crawford wrote, clearly still traumatized:

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.