Abraham Lincoln to Major-General Joseph Hooker, June 10, 1863

“Cypher”

United States Military Telegraph

War Department.

Washington D.C.  June 10, 1863.

Major General Hooker

Your long despatch of to-day is just received. If left to me, I would not go South of the Rappahannock, upon Lee's moving North of it. If you have Richmond invested to-day, you would not be able to take it in twenty days; meanwhile, your communications, and with them, your Army would be ruined.  I think Lee's Army, and not Richmond, is your true objective point. If he comes towards the Upper Potomac, follow on his flank, and on the inside track, shortening your lines, whilst he lengthens his. Fight him when oppertunity offers. If he stays where he is, fret him, and fret him.

A Lincoln

SOURCE: The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, Washington D. C.

Captain Charles Wright Wills: May 13, 1863

Camp 103d Illinois Infantry, Lagrange, Tenn.,

May 13, 1863.

I have been on a General Court Martial for the last ten days, and we will not, in all probability, adjourn for some weeks yet. We tried Governor Yates' brother. He is Adjutant of the 6th Illinois Cavalry. Another little reverse on the Rappahannock. All right! My faith is still large — in the army, but the commanders and citizens can be improved. We think that Grant is going to beat them all yet. But his army is more responsible for his good fortune than himself. Do you notice that one of our “raids” missed fire? Straight into Georgia, I mean. Grierson's and Stoneman's make up for all the rest though. We are constantly active here, in fact our troops move so much that I am unable to keep the run of even our brigade.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 175

Captain Charles Wright Wills: May 7, 1863

Camp 103d Illinois Infantry, Lagrange, Tenn.,

May 7, 1863.

Isn't the Grierson "raid" glorious? Two other expeditions started from this point and were gone respectively five and ten days each. Although they made good long marches and took about 40 prisoners and 500 animals, still we forget them in looking after Grierson. We have the Rebels well scared in this country. Five thousand men could sweep everything north of Jackson, if they could only hold it. Papers to-day give us the news on the Rappahannock up to the 4th of May, which includes the route of Siegel's Dutchmen and leaves Hooker in what seems to me a close place. Well, he can at worst but fail. What a consolation. General Oglesby wrote to Hurlbut to detail me on his staff General Hurlbut referred the letter through division and brigade headquarters for the letter of my company and on its return to Hurlbut, General Smith objected to my being detailed out of his command. He thought Oglesby might find his staff in his own command. All right! I would like to have been with Old Dick though. I'm on a General Court Martial now. Confound the Court Martials.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 174-5

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: August 4, 1863

The partial gloom continues. It is now ascertained that Gen. Morgan is a prisoner; only some 250 of his men out of 3000, having escaped.

Lee is falling back on this side of the Rappahannock. His army has been diminished by desertions; but he has been reinforced pretty considerably since leaving Pennsylvania. The President's address may reinforce him still more; and then it may be possible a portion of Bragg's and Johnston's armies may be ordered hither. If this should be done, the next battle may be fatal to Meade. Our people are thirsting for another victory; and may expect too much.

Confederate notes are now given for gold at the rate of $12 or $15 for $1. Flour is $40 per barrel; bacon, $1.15 per pound; coal, $25 per cart-load; and good wood, $30 per cord. Butter is selling at $3 per pound, etc. etc.

Nevertheless, most men look for relief in the foreign complications the United States are falling into. England will not prohibit the selling of steamers to the Confederate States, and the United States say it shall not be done; and France has taken possession of Mexico, erecting it into an Empire, upon the throne of which will be seated some European ruler. We think recognition of our government is not far behind these events; when we shall have powerful navies to open the blockade. We are used to wounds and death; but can hardly bear starvation and nakedness.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p. 5

Abraham Lincoln to Major-General George B. McClellan, April 9, 1862

Washington, April 9. 1862

Major-General McClellan.

My Dear Sir.

Your despatches complaining that you are not properly sustained, while they do not offend me, do pain me very much.

Blenker's Division was withdrawn from you before you left here; and you know the pressure under which I did it, and, as I thought acquiesced in it — certainly not without reluctance.

After you left, I ascertained that less than twenty thousand unorganized men, without a single field battery, were all you designed to be left for the defense of Washington, and Manassas Junction; and part of this even, was to go to Gen. Hooker's old position. Gen. Bank's corps, once designed for Manassas Junction, was diverted and tied up on the line of Winchester and Strausburg, and could not leave it without again exposing the upper Potomac, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. This presented (or would present, when McDowell and Sumner should be gone) a great temptation to the enemy to turn back from the Rappahanock, to and sack Washington. My explicit order that Washington should, by the judgment of all the commanders of Army Corps, be left entirely secure, had been neglected. It was precisely this that induced drove me to detain McDowell.

I do not forget that I was satisfied with your arrangement to leave Banks at Manassas Junction; but when that arrangement was broken up, and nothing was substituted for it, of course I was not satisfied. I was constrained to substitute something for it myself. And now allow me to ask “Do you really think I should permit the line from Richmond, via Manassas Junction, to this city to be entirely open, except what resistance could be presented by less than twenty thousand unorganized troops?” This is a question which the country will not allow me to evade.

There is a curious mystery about the number of the troops now with you. When I telegraphed you on the 6th saying you had over a hundred thousand with you, I had just obtained from the Secretary of War, a statement, taken as he said, from your own returns, making 108.000 then with you, and en route to you. You now say you will have but 85.000 when all en route to you shall have reached you. How can the discrepancy of 23.000 be accounted for?

As to Gen. Wool's command, I understand it is doing for you precisely what a like number of your own would have to do, if that command was away.

I suppose the whole force which has gone forward for you, is with you by this time; and if so, I think it is the precise time for you to strike a blow. By delay the enemy will relatively gain upon you – that is, he will gain faster by fortifications and reinforcements, than you can by re-inforcements alone.

And, once more let me tell you, it is indispensable to you that you strike a blow. I am powerless to help this. You will do me the justice to remember I always insisted, that going down the Bay in search of a field, instead of fighting at or near Manassas, was only shifting, and not surmounting, a difficulty – that we would find the same enemy, and the same, or equal, entrenchments, at either place. The country will not fail to note – is now noting – that the present hesitation to move upon an entrenched enemy, is but the story of Manassas repeated.

I beg to assure you that I have never written you, or spoken to you, in greater kindness of feeling than now, nor with a fuller purpose to sustain you, so far as in my most anxious judgment, I consistently can. But you must act.

Yours very truly

A. Lincoln

SOURCE: The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: July 29, 1863

Still raining! The great fear is that the crops will be ruined, and famine, which we have long been verging upon, will be complete. Is Providence frowning upon us for our sins, or upon our cause?

Another battle between Lee and Meade is looked for on the Upper Rappahannock.

Gov. Harris, in response to the President's call for 6000 men, says Western and Middle Tennessee are in the hands of the enemy, and that about half the people in East Tennessee sympathize with the North!

Some two or three hundred of Morgan's men have reached Lynchburg, and they believe Morgan himself will get off, with many more of his men.

The New York Herald's correspondent, writing from Washington on the 24th inst., says the United States ministers in England and France have informed the government of the intention of those powers to intervene immediately in our behalf; and that they will send iron-clad fleets to this country without delay. Whereupon the Herald says Mr. Seward is in favor of making peace with us, and reconstructing the Union — pardoning us — but keeping the slaves captured, etc. It is a cock-and-bull story, perhaps, without foundation.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 390

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Saturday, December 20, 1862

Burnside has retreated across the Rappahannock. The Rebels can now set off the battle of Fredericksburg against the battle of Antietam. They retreated back across the Potomac. But I suspect they have a great advantage in having suffered much less than we have. They fought behind entrenchments. When will our generals learn not to attack an equal adversary in fortified positions? Burnside will now perhaps have to yield to McClellan. It looks as if in the East neither army was strong enough to make a successful invasion of [the territory of] the other. If so conquest of [the] Rebellion is not to be. We have now the Emancipation Proclamation to go upon. Will not this stiffen the President's backbone so as to drive it through? Desperate diseases require desperate remedies.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 376-7

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Tuesday, December 16, 1862

Rained last night; raw and cloudy with a little snow this morning. Sun shone in the afternoon. We hear today of the crossing by General Burnside of the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 375

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: June 12, 1863

A beautiful, bright warm summer day — and yet a little somber.

The surprise of Stuart, on the Rappahannock, has chilled every heart, notwithstanding it does not appear that we lost more than the enemy in the encounter. The question is on every tongue —  have our generals relaxed in vigilance? If so, sad is the prospect!

But Vicksburg is the point of intensest interest and anxieties. Gen. Johnston writes from Canton, Mississippi, on the 5th inst., in reply to the Secretary, that he regrets such confidence is reposed in his ability to save Vicksburg, and fears that such expectations will be disappointed. Grant is receiving reinforcements daily— while he (Johnston) is not to have more troops. He does not state the number he has, but he says it seems to him that the relief of Vicksburg is impossible. Pemberton will hold out as long as he can; but if Grant's line be not broken, the fall of Vicksburg is only a question of time. Grant's force (he continues) is more than treble his; and Grant has constructed lines of circumvallation, and blocked up all the roads leading to his position. To force his lines would be difficult with an army twice as numerous as the one he (Johnston) commands. He will try to do something in aid of the besieged — but it seems a desperate case. He has not wagons and provisions enough to leave the railroads more than four days. The track to Vicksburg is destroyed. It was his intention at first to unite all the troops in his command — but it was impracticable. So much for these lugubrious tidings. Nothing but a miracle can save Vicksburg!

The Governors of Alabama and Mississippi unite in urging the government to suppress both the foreign and border traffic. I fear it is too late!

There is a street rumor that the enemy have appeared on the Chickahominy, and on the James River. If this be so, it may be to embarrass Lee; or it may be a determined and desperate assault on this city. We shall know very soon. But never before were we in such doubt as to the designs of the enemy; and never before have they evinced such apparent vigor and intrepidity. Yet, they know not what Lee is doing to call them home.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 345-6

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: June 11, 1863

It appears that the enemy design to attack us. The following is Lee's dispatch:

“culpepper, June 9th, 1863.

“To General S. Cooper.

“The enemy crossed the Rappahannock this morning at five o'clock A.M., at the various fords from Beverly to Kelly's, with a large force of cavalry, accompanied by infantry and artillery. After a severe contest till five P.M., Gen. Stuart drove them across the river.

R. E. Lee.”

We have not received the details of this combat, further than that it was a surprise, not creditable to our officers in command, by which a portion of ten regiments and 600 horses were taken by the enemy. We lost, killed, also a number of cavalry colonels. We, too, captured several hundred prisoners, which have arrived in the city. Of the killed and wounded, I have yet obtained no information — but it is supposed several hundred fell on both sides.

Still I do not think it probable this affair, coupled with the fact that the enemy have effected a lodgment on this side of the Rappahannock below Fredericksburg, and are still crossing, will frustrate any plan conceived by Lee to invade their country. If, however, Lincoln concentrates all his forces in the East for another attempt to capture Richmond, and should bring 300,000 men against us — we shall have near 200,000 to oppose them.

The Northern Democratic papers are filled with the proceedings of indignation meetings, denouncing the Republican Administration and advocating peace.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 345

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: June 10, 1863

We have news of a fight on the Rappahannock yesterday, above Fredericksburg, the enemy having crossed again. They were driven back.

There are also reports from Vicksburg, which still holds out. Accounts say that Grant has lost 40,000 men so far. Where Johnston is, we have no knowledge; but in one of his recent letters he intimated that the fall of Vicksburg was a matter of time.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 344

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: June 8, 1863

Well, the enemy have thrown another column over the Rappahannock, below Fredericksburg. This is probably a manoeuvre to arrest Lee's advance in Culpepper County. But it won't do — Lee's plans cannot be changed — and this demonstration was in his calculations. If they think Richmond can be taken now, without Lee's army to defend it, they may find their mistake.

The clerks and employees in the departments are organizing to man the fortifications, should their aid be needed.

Hon. M. R. H. Garnett writes from Essex County that the enemy have had Lawrence Washington, arrested in Westmoreland County, confined in a prison-ship in the Potomac, until his health gave way. He is now in Washington, on parole not to escape.

About 140,000 bushels of corn have been sent to Lee's army in May, which, allowing ten pounds per day to each horse, shows that there are over 20,000 horses in this army. But the report says not more than 120,000 bushels can be forwarded this month.

The press everywhere is opening its batteries on the blockade-runners, who bring in nothing essential to the people, and nothing necessary for the war.

The arrivals and departures of steamers amount to one per day, and most of the goods imported are of Yankee manufacture. Many cargoes (unsold) are now held in Charleston — and yet the prices do not give way.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 342-3

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: June 6, 1863

We have not even a rumor to-day from Mississippi. The Examiner has made a pretty severe attack on Judge Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War, for the great number of persons he has “allowed” to pass into the enemy's country. It does not attribute the best motives to the Judge, who was late coming over to the Confederacy.

The British consul here, it seems, has been meddling with matters in Mississippi, the President states, and has had his exequatur revoked.

Gen. D. H. Hill recommends the abandonment of the line of the Blackwater, for Gen. Martin informs him that the enemy are preparing their expeditions to cut our railroads in North Carolina. Gen. Hill fears if the present line be held we are in danger of a great disaster, from the inability to transport troops from so remote a point, in the event of a sudden emergency. Gen. Lee refuses to let him have Ranseur's brigade.

There are rumors of picket fighting near Fredericksburg, and Davis's (the President's nephew) brigade, just from North Carolina, proceeded through the city to-day in that direction. Shall we have another great battle on the Rappahannock? I think it a ruse.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 341-2

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: June 1, 1863

Nothing decisive from Vicksburg. It is said Northern papers have been received, of the 29th May, stating that their Gen. Grant had been killed, and Vicksburg (though at first prematurely announced) captured. We are not ready to believe the latter announcement.

Mr. Lyons has been beaten for Congress by Mr. Wickham.

It is said the brigade commanded by Gen. Barton, in the battle near Vicksburg, broke and ran twice. If that be so, and their conduct be imitated by other brigades, good-by to the Mississippi Valley!

Our people everywhere are alive to the expected raid of the enemy's cavalry, and are organizing the men of non-conscript age for defense.

One of our pickets whistled a horse, drinking in the Rappahannock, and belonging to Hooker's army, over to our side of the river. It was a very fine horse, and the Federal Gen. Patrick sent a flag demanding him, as he was not captured in battle. Our officer sent back word he would do so with pleasure, if the Yankees would send back the slaves and other property of the South not taken in battle. There it ended — but we shall probably soon have stirring news from that quarter.

The Baltimore American contains the proceedings of the City Council, justifying the arrest of Vallandigham.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 338

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: May 14, 1863

We have been beaten in an engagement near Jackson, Miss., 4000 retiring before 10,000. This is a dark cloud over the hopes of patriots, for Vicksburg is seriously endangered. Its fall would be the worst blow we have yet received.

Papers from New York and Philadelphia assert most positively, and with circumstantiality, that Hooker recrossed the Rappahannock since the battle, and is driving Lee toward Richmond, with which his communications have been interrupted. But this is not all: they say Gen. Keyes marched a column up the Peninsula, and took Richmond itself, over the Capitol of which the Union flag “is now flying.” These groundless statements will go out to Europe, and may possibly delay our recognition. If so, what may be the consequences when the falsehood is exposed? I doubt the policy of any species of dishonesty.

Gov. Shorter, of Alabama, demands the officers of Forrest's captives for State trial, as they incited the slaves to insurrection.

Mr. S. D. Allen writes from Alexandria, La., that the people despair of defending the Mississippi Valley with such men as Pemberton and other hybrid Yankees in command. He denounces the action also of quartermasters and commissaries in the Southwest.

A letter from Hon. W. Porcher Miles to the Secretary of War gives an extract from a communication written him by Gen. Beauregard, to the effect that Charleston must at last fall into the hands of the enemy, if an order which has been sent there, for nearly all his troops to proceed to Vicksburg, be not revoked. There are to be left for the defense of Charleston only 1500 exclusive of the garrisons!

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 324

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: May 12, 1863

The departments and all places of business are still closed in honor of Gen. Jackson, whose funeral will take place to-day. The remains will be placed in state at the Capitol, where the people will be permitted to see him. The grief is universal, and the victory involving such a loss is regarded as a calamity.

The day is bright and excessively hot; and so was yesterday.

Many letters are coming in from the counties in which the enemy's cavalry replenished their horses. It appears that the government has sent out agents to collect the worn-down horses left by the enemy; and this is bitterly objected to by the farmers. It is the corn-planting season, and without horses, they say, they can raise no crops. Some of these writers are almost menacing in their remarks, and intimate that they are about as harshly used, in this war, by one side as the other.

To-day I observed the clerks coming out of the departments with chagrin and mortification. Seventy-five per cent. of them ought to be in the army, for they are young able-bodied men. This applies also to the chiefs of bureaus.

The funeral was very solemn and imposing, because the mourning was sincere and heartfelt. There was no vain ostentation. The pall bearers were generals. The President followed near the hearse in a carriage, looking thin and frail in health. The heads of departments, two and two, followed on foot — Benjamin and Seddon first — at the head of the column of young clerks (who ought to be in the field), the State authorities, municipal authorities, and thousands of soldiers and citizens. The war-horse was led by the general's servant, and flags and black feathers abounded.

Arrived at the Capitol, the whole multitude passed the bier, and gazed upon the hero's face, seen through a glass in the coffin.

Just previous to the melancholy ceremony, a very large body of prisoners (I think 3500) arrived, and were marched through Main Street, to the grated buildings allotted them. But these attracted slight attention, — Jackson, the great hero, was the absorbing thought. Yet there are other Jacksons in the army, who will win victories, — no one doubts it.

The following is Gen. Lee's order to the array after the intelligence of Gen. Jackson's death:

“Headquarters Army Northern Va.,

“May 11th, 1863.

“general Orders No. 61.

“With deep grief the Commanding General announces to the army the death of Lieut.-Gen. T. J. Jackson, who expired on the 10th inst., at 3½ P.M. The daring, skill, and energy of this great and good soldier, by the decree of an all-wise Providence, are now lost to us. But while we mourn his death, we feel that his spirit still lives, and will inspire the whole army with his indomitable courage and unshaken confidence in God as our hope and our strength. Let his name be a watchword to his corps, who have followed him to victory on so many fields. Let officers and soldiers emulate his invincible determination to do everything in the defense of our beloved country.

“R. E. Lee, General.”

The Letter of Gen. Lee to Gen. Jackson.

The letter written by Gen. Lee to Gen. Jackson before the death of the latter is as follows:

“CHANCELLORVILLE, May 4th.

“General: —

“I have just received your note informing me that you were wounded. I cannot express my regret at the occurrence. Could I have dictated events, I should have chosen for the good of the country to have been disabled in your stead.

“I congratulate you upon the victory which is due to your skill and energy.

“Most truly yours,

“R. E. Lee.

“To Gen. T. J. Jackson.”

“The nation's agony,” as it is termed in a Washington paper, in an appeal for 500,000 more men, now demands a prompt response from the people. And yet that paper, under the eye and in the interest of the Federal Government, would make it appear that “the Army of the Potomac” has sustained no considerable! disaster. What, then, constitutes the “nation's agony”? Is it the imminency of war with England? It may be, judging from the debates in Parliament, relating to the liberties the United States have been taking with British commerce. But what do they mean by the “nation?” They have nothing resembling a homogeneous race in the North, and nearly a moiety of the people are Germans and Irish. How ridiculous it would have been even for a Galba to call his people the Roman nation! An idiot may produce a conflagration, but he can never rise to the dignity of a high-minded man. Yet that word “Nation” may raise a million Yankee troops. It is a “new thing.”

The Northern papers say Charleston is to be assailed again immediately; that large reinforcements are going to Hooker, and that they captured six or eight thousand prisoners in their flight on the Rappahannock. All these fictions are understood and appreciated here; but they may answer a purpose in the North, by deceiving the people again into the belief that Richmond will certainly fall the next time an advance is made. And really, where we see such extravagant statements in the Federal journals, after a great battle, we are much rejoiced, because we know them to be unfounded, and we are led to believe our victory was even greater than we supposed it to be.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 321-3

General Robert E. Lee’s General Orders No. 59: May 7, 1863

GENERAL ORDERS No. 59.

HDQRS. ARMY NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

May 7, 1863.

With heartfelt gratification the general commanding expresses to the army his sense of the heroic conduct displayed by officers and men during the arduous operations in which they have just been engaged. Under trying vicissitudes of heat and storm, you attacked the enemy, strongly intrenched in the depths of a tangled wilderness, and again on the hills of Fredericksburg, 15 miles distant, and, by the valor that has triumphed on so many fields, forced him once more to seek safety beyond the Rappahannock. While this glorious victory entitles you to the praise and gratitude of the nation, we are especially called upon to return our grateful thanks to the only Giver of victory for the signal deliverance He has wrought. It is, therefore, earnestly recommended that the troops unite on Sunday next in ascribing to the Lord of Hosts the glory due unto His name.

Let us not forget in our rejoicing the brave soldiers who have fallen in defense of their country; and, while we mourn their loss, let us resolve to emulate their noble example.

The army and the country alike lament the absence for a time of one to whose bravery, energy, and skill they are so much indebted for Success.

The following letter from the President of the Confederate States is communicated to the army as an expression of his appreciation of its success.

[General LEE :]

I have received your dispatch, and reverently unite with you in giving praise to God for the success with which He has crowned our arms.

In the name of the people, I offer my cordial thanks to yourself and the troops under your command for this addition to the unprecedented series of great victories which your army has achieved.

The universal rejoicing produced by this happy result will be mingled with a general regret for the good and the brave who are numbered among the killed and the wounded.

R E. LEE,

General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 25, Part 1 (Serial No. 39), p. 805

Telegram from General Robert E. Lee to Jefferson Davis, May 7, 1863

Recd at Richmond May 7, 1863.

By telegraph from Fredericksburg 7

Chancellorsville, May 7,1863.

To His Excellency, President Davis: —

After driving General Sedgwick across the Rappahannock on the night of the 4th, I returned on the 5th to Chancellorsville. The march was delayed by a storm which continued the whole night following. In placing the troops in position on the morning of the 6th, to attack Hooker's army, I ascertained he had abandoned his fortified position. A line of skirmishers pressed forward until they came within range of the enemy's batteries, planted on the north of the Rappahannock, which, from the configuration of the ground, completely commanded this side. His army, therefore, escaped with the loss of a few additional prisoners.

R. E. Lee, General Commanding.

SOURCES: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 314; Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee's Dispatches: Unpublished Letters of General Robert E. Lee, C.S.A., to Jefferson Davis and the War Department of the Confederate States of America, p. 90; James Dabney McCabe, Life and Campaigns of General Robert E. Lee, p. 363-4; William Wallace Bennett, A Narrative of the Great Revival which Prevailed in the Southern Armies, p. 287; De Bow's Review Devoted to the Restoration of the Southern States and the Development of the Wealth and Resources of the Country, Volume 3, p. 204.  All above sources offer slightly different transcriptions of this message in wording but in meaning are identical.

General Robert E. Lee to Jefferson Davis, May 5, 1863

HEADQUARTERS, GUINEY'S [STATION], VA., May 5, 1863.

At the close of the battle of Chancellorsville on Sunday the enemy was reported advancing from Fredericksburg in our rear. General McLaws was sent back to arrest his progress, and repulsed him handsomely that afternoon at Tabernacle Church. Learning that this force consisted of two corps under General Sedgwick, I determined to attack it. Leaving a sufficient force to hold General Hooker in check, who had not recrossed the Rappahannock, as was reported, but occupied a strong position in front of the United States Ford, I marched back yesterday with General Anderson, and, uniting with McLaws and Early in the afternoon, succeeded by the blessing of Heaven in driving General Sedgwick over the river. We have reoccupied Fredericksburg, and no enemy remains south of the Rappahannock in its vicinity.

R. E. LEE,

General.

His Excellency President DAVIS.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 25, Part 1 (Serial No. 39), p. 794-5

General Robert E. Lee to Jefferson Davis, May 3, 1863

MILFORD, May 3, 1863.

President DAVIS:

Yesterday General Jackson, with three of his divisions, penetrated to the rear of the enemy, and drove him from all his positions from the Wilderness to within 1 mile of Chancellorsville. He was engaged at the same time in front by two of Longstreet's divisions. This morning the battle was renewed. He was dislodged from all his positions around Chancellorsville and driven back toward the Rappahannock, over which he is now retreating. Many prisoners were taken, and the enemy’s loss in killed and wounded large.

We have again to thank Almighty God for a great victory. I regret to state that General Paxton was killed, General Jackson severely, and Generals Heth and A. P. Hill slightly, wounded.

 R. E. LEE,

 General, Commanding.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 25, Part 2 (Serial No. 40), p. 768