In the case of the armies at Fredericksburg it would have been, to say the least, very hazardous to give counter-attack, the Federal position being about as strong as ours from which we had driven them back.
In a very short time the army of Northern Virginia was face to face with the Army of the Potomac.
My command, less than ten thousand, had found the battle on the Plank road in retreat, little less than a panic. In a few hours we changed defeat to victory, the broken divisions of the Third Corps rallying in their rear.
General Pickett, finding the battle broken while the enemy was still reinforcing, called the troops off.
There was no indication of panic. The broken files marched back in steady step. The effort was nobly made and failed from the blows that could not be fended.
Pickett's lines being nearer, the impact was heaviest upon them.
