As I put my head out of my tent this morning, I beheld the
heavy guns going to the rear, and I thought, well, we shall follow to-night.
And so we did. The 1st Corps marched, in the afternoon, to Germanna Ford and
halted, to hold the crossing. At dark the 5th marched, by the turnpike,
followed by the 6th; and the 3d, followed by the 2d, took the plank road to
Culpeper Ford. There was a piercing cold wind, the roads were frozen, and ice
was on the pools; but the night was beautiful, with a lovely moon, that rose
over the pine trees, and really seemed to me to be laughing derisively at our
poor doughboys, tramping slowly along the road. Just at sunset I rode to the
front and took a last look at the Rebels. Through my glass they looked almost
near enough to speak to, as they stood, in groups of a dozen, and twenty, on
the parapet of their breastworks. Some were on the glacis, seeking, I suppose,
for firewood for their camps, whose smoke rose in a thin line, as far as the
eye could reach, on either side. The Headquarters waited for some time at
Robertson's Tavern, till the 5th Corps had passed, and then followed on. The
road was horribly rough, full of great holes and big stones. We crawled, at a
snail's pace, till we got clear of the troops, and then the General slammed
ahead at a rate that threatened the legs of all our horses; and which gave two
or three officers most awful falls on the frozen ground. At 2 o’clock this
morning (December 2) we crossed the Rapid Ann, and were glad to roll ourselves
in our blankets in the same camp we had the night of the 26th. And so ends what
I think I shall call the Great Seven-days’ Flank. If you ask what were the
causes of failure, they lie in a nutshell — Slowness and want of Detail.
We have fought for two years and a half, but it takes no wiseacre to see
that we yet have much to learn. Were it not for the remarkable intelligence of
the men, we could not do even as well as we do. . . .
SOURCE: George R. Agassiz, Editor, Meade’s
Headquarters, 1863-1865: Letters of Colonel Theodore Lyman from the Wilderness
to Appomattox, p. 58-9
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