[CHAP. XLIII.

know it, for he speaks only of Tyndale's and "the other brigade". And then, not being positive whether I had more than two brigades in all, he tells us that he kept one of my brigades back, thinking that two of my brigades were in advance.

Here my willingness to furnish an explanation is at a loss. There is no theory upon which I can reconcile his acts with his declarations. This testimony in its relation to the facts as proved by all the other witnesses is to me a puzzle. It is almost impossible to suppose that General Hooker did not know the brigades to be there, for if he had eyes to see, ears to hear, and a mind to understand, he must have been aware of their presence. But it is almost equally impossible to suppose that he did know them to be there, for how strange is it, how can it be explained, that he did not send them forward, if he wanted to have Tyndale's Hill occupied and Geary re-enforced at the same time, and above all, how can his report be accounted for? I am irresistibly driven to the conclusion that either General Hooker did not clearly fix his mind upon what he saw, heard, said and did during the night of the engagement, or that he did not clearly fix his mind upon what he remembered and wrote at the time of composing his report.

Now let me sum up the facts as they are established by the evidence.

It is proved that immediately upon receipt of orders, I hurried forward at the head of my First Brigade, after having directed my Second and Third Brigades to follow.

It is proved that my orders to the Second and Third Brigades were correctly delivered and correctly executed. They did follow me.

It is proved that upon the arrival of the head of my column opposite Tyndale's Hill I received official notice of the detention of my Second and Third brigades, by orders and instructions coming from General Hooker.

It is proved that these notices were brought by staff officers whose business it is to carry such information, and that, therefore, I was justified in considering it as reliable, which, as the evidence shows, it was.

It is proved that at the same time I received, through one of General Hooker's aides, an order to take and occupy the hill now known as Tyndale's with one brigade.

It is proved by the aide who brought the order that I duly informed him of my having but one brigade in hand, and of the impossibility of re-enforcing Geary if that one brigade was employed in occupying the hill.

It is proved that the order was repeated, and that it was a positive and direct order. That it was General Hooker's order is proved by General Hooker himself in his report, in his letter, and in his testimony. It is proved by General Hooker, also, that I did right in executing it; in his own words, the order was "duly executed."

It is proved that all these movements were executed with all possible speed, and that the troops could not have moved quicker on the ground as it then was.

So much for the first act of the drama. Now to the second. General Hooker swears to his report. While Tyndale's brigade was directed to take the hill on the left, "the other brigade was to push on as ordered." This brigade is censured for not having arrived at Geary's until long after the fight had ended, while, as the report says, it had been "dispatched to the relief of Geary by orders de-