118

Sharpsburg, however, General Lee hoped to bring on an engagement. The
position he chose was not really a strong one, nothing like so strong as that held
by Meade at Gettysburg, but General Lee — and so did his army — felt confident
of administering a crushing defeat to Meade could he be induced to attack.

General Lee here issued the following order, which set the army wild with
enthusiasm :

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, July 11, 1863.
General Orders No. 16.

After long and trying marches, endured with the fortitude that has ever characterized
the soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia, you have penetrated to the country of our
enemies, and recalled to the defenses of their own soil those who were engaged in the
invasion of ours. You have fought a fierce and sanguinary battle, which, if not attended
with the success that has hitherto crowned your efforts, was marked by the same heroic spirit
that has commanded the respect of your enemies, the gratitude of your country, and the
admiration of mankind.

Once more you are called upon to meet the enemy from whom you have won, on so
many fields, names that will never die. Once more the eyes of your countrymen are turned
upon you, and again do wives and sisters, fathers and mothers, and helpless children, lean for
defense on your strong arms and brave hearts. Let every soldier remember that on his
courage and fidelity depend all that makes life worth having, the freedom of his country, the
honor of his people, and the security of his home. Let each heart grow strong in the
remembrance of our glorious past, and in the thought of the inestimable blessings for which
we contend; and, invoking the assistance of that benign Power which has so signally
blessed our former efforts, let us go forth in confidence to secure the peace and safety of our
country. Soldiers, your old enemy is before you. Win from him honor worthy of your
right cause, worthy of your comrades dead on so many illustrious fields.

R. E. LEE, General Commanding.

For three days General Lee held his army in line of battle, and during these
three days he resorted to every means in his power to bring" on a general engage-
ment, but in vain. General Meade had had enough, and contented himself with
watching and waiting for Lee to move on, when he, too, would resume the
monotonous march to the Potomac and slowly follow the Confederate Army into
Virginia.

At length, on the evening of the 13th, disgusted with Meade's timidity, General
Lee left his position, and on the 14th recrossed the Potomac.

On the 18th of the previous month (June) the Second Maryland Infantry had
crossed this same river under vastly different circumstances, and the fact was
remarked more than once during the passage across. Then it was a battalion five