Food and refreshment were offered everywhere to the two young horsemen,
and the women and the old men--not many young men were left--wanted to
hear of Gettysburg. They would not accept it as a defeat. It was merely
a delay, they said. General Lee would march North once more next year.
Harry knew in his heart that the South would never invade again, that
the war would be for her henceforth a purely defensive one, but he said
nothing. He could not discourage people who were so sanguine.
Every foot of the way now brought back memories of Jackson. He saw many
familiar places, fields of battle, sites of camps, lines of advance or
retreat, and his heart grew sad within him, because one whom he admired
so much, and for whom he had such a strong affection, was gone forever,
gone when he was needed most. He saw again with all the vividness of
reality that terrible night at Chancellorsville, when the wounded Jackson
lay in the road, his young officers covering his body with their own to
protect him from the shells.
When they reached the strip of railroad entering Richmond they left their
horses to be sent later, and each took a full seat in the short train,
where he could loosen his belt, and stretch his limbs.
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