crossing."

At the time of Hooker's flank movement, there were between the
Rappahannock and Rapidan no troops excepting some twenty-seven hundred
cavalry under Stuart, forming Lee's extreme left. But Stuart made up
for his small numbers by his promptness in conveying to his chief
information of every movement and of the size of every column during
Hooker's passage of the rivers. And the capture of a few prisoners from
each of the Fifth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Corps enabled him and his
superior to gauge the dimensions of the approaching army with fair
accuracy.

But until Thursday night the plan of Hooker's attack was not
sufficiently developed to warrant decisive action on the part of Lee.

Of the bulk of the Confederate forces, Early's division was ahead at
Hamilton's Crossing, intrenched in an almost impregnable position.
On Wednesday, April 29, the rest of Jackson's corps was moved up from
below, where Doubleday's and Morrow's demonstrations had until now kept
it.

A. P. Hill's and Trimble's divisions were in the second and third lines
on this wing; while Anderson and McLaws, the only troops of Longstreet's
corps left with the Army of Northern Virginia, held the intrenchments
along the river above Fredericksburg. Barksdale was in the town.
Pendleton with the reserve artillery was at Massaponax.

When, from Sedgwick's inactivity and the information received from
Stuart, Lee, on Wednesday afternoon, had been led to suspect that the
main attack might be from the columns crossing above, he had immediately