enough to substitute in the copy sent you for the word "perpendicular" "at right angles." I think it is the more correct form of expression. Will you also be kind enough to add in a recent letter I wrote concerning the justice of paying soldiers for horses permanently disabled by wounds, &c., the words "and unavoidably captured by the enemy?"

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

FITZ. LEE,

Brigadier-General, Commanding.

[Indorsement.]

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
March 28, 1863

Respectfully forwarded to General Cooper, with the request that he will cause the desired alterations to be made. The papers alluded to were forwarded yesterday and to-day.

By order of General Lee:

W. H. TAYLOR,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

GENERAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. LEE'S CAVALRY BRIGADE,

Numbers 10.
March 21, 1863.

The general commanding the brigade announces to his command his high gratification and proud appreciation of their heroic achievements upon the ever-memorable 17th instant. The enemy crossed the Rappahannock at Kelly's Ford with a force of certainly not less than 3,000 cavalry and a battery of artillery. Confident in numbers and equipments, it was their purpose to penetrate the interior, to destroy our railroads to burn, rob, and devastate, and to commit their customary depredations upon the property of our peaceful citizens. Soldiers of the brigade! you have been taught a lesson, and the enemy have also profited. Rebel cavalry have been taught that Yankee (would-be) horsemen, notwithstanding their numbers, can be confronted and hurled back, and their infamous purposes, however well planned in security, in the open, fair field frustrated. Rebel cavalry have been taught that a determined rush upon the foe is the part of sound policy as it is the part of true courage. Rebel cavalry have taught an insolent, enemy that, notwithstanding they may possess advantages of chosen position, superiority in numbers and weapons, they cannot overwhelm soldiers fighting for the boldest cause that ever nerved the arm of a freeman or fired the breast of a patriot. You have taught certain sneered in our army that placing a Southern soldier on horseback does not convert him into a coward, and last and not least, you have confirmed Abolition cavalry in their notions of running. You have repeatedly charged an enemy sheltered by stone fences and impassable ditches, in the face of his artillery and volleys from thousands of his carbines. You checked his triumphant advance and caused a precipitate retreat, with the legacy of his dead and wounded. Captain Breathed and his brave artillerists have my sincere thanks. They behaved as they always do, with great gallantry. To the noble spirits who have fallen we pay the mournful homage of silent grief. The blood of such men as Pelham, Puller, Harris, and other kindred souls is a liberty. Virginia witnesses their sacrifice upon the holy altar of her independence.

FITZ. LEE,

Brigadier-General, Commanding.