AUTUMJN OF 186I



receive rather than to make the attack, and as
he about doubled us in numb( rs, I wished to have
that advantage. I am greatly disappointed at
his getting off with so little damage, but we do
not know what is best for us. I believe a kind
God has ordered all things for our good."
  After this the weather became so severe that
further operations were inmpossible, and the
armies went into winter quarters, Lee along the
Virginia Central Railway and in the vicinity of
Orange, Mleade in the region about Culpeper.
The inaction was, however, miuch in favor of the
North; for the South was rapidly being depleted.
Lee's army was in a state of such destitution that
it is a wonder the men could be kept together.
Only their spirit enabled them to stand the hard-
ships of the winter. Barefooted and hungry,
they stood it out through the long months of a
Virginia winter, and when it is considered that
until they joined the army many of these men had
never seen snow, and that none of them had ever
experienced want of adequate clothing, their reso-
lution is a tribute to their patriotism which can
never be excelled. That Lee himself endured
hardships and suffered with them in their self-
denial was sufficient for them. Ani incident of
this period is related by Colonr.el Charles Marshall,
                      469