Rapidan, to the Rappahannock at the mouth of Mineral Spring run, a line nearly six miles in length.
Lee rode in the midst of his line of battle as his men pressed forward in pursuit, pouring volley after volley into Hooker's retreating army, while the shells of the numerous Confederate batteries were thrown over their heads, to burst in the Federal ranks and add to their confusion. The surrounding forests were soon in flames, the accumulated leaves of the preceding autumn having been fired by the burning cartridges and fuses, while flames burst from the large Chancellor house and added to the smoke of the conflict and of the burning forest. Col. Charles Marshall, Lee's military secretary, describes the scene, as Lee spurred "Traveler" up to the burning house, in these words:
Lee's presence was the signal for one of those uncontrollable bursts of enthusiasm which none can appreciate who has not witnessed them. The fierce soldiers, with their faces blackened with the smoke of battle, the wounded crawling with feeble limbs from the fury of the devouring flames, all seemed possessed with a common impulse. One long unbroken cheer, in which the feeble cry of those who lay helpless on the earth blended with the strong voices of those who still fought, rose high above the roar of battle and hailed the presence of a victorious chief. He sat in the full realization of all that soldiers dream of—triumph; and as I looked at him in the complete fruition of the success which his genius, courage, and confidence in his army had won, I thought that it must have been from some such scene that men in ancient days ascended to the dignity of gods.
The victory won and the field of contention in his possession, Lee turned his first thoughts to rescuing the Federal wounded and his own from the conflagrations raging in the forest and at the Chancellor house. Marshall relates that just then there came a message from Jackson, with congratulations for the great victory Lee had won, adding: "I shall never forget the look of pain and anguish that passed over his face as he listened. With a voice broken with emotion he bade me say to General Jackson that the victory was his, and that the congratulations were due to him. . . . I forgot the genius that won the day in my reverence for the generosity that refused the glory."
Lee at once made preparations to assault Hooker's new position, when a message came from Early calling his attention to affairs at Fredericksburg. On Sunday, May 2d, Early was holding on tenaciously to the posi-
