[573] courage, but he had not yet exhibited all those military qualities which at a later period distinguished him as Sherman's lieutenant. He had almost always been unlucky: the remembrances of the recent rout of the Eleventh corps—a rout for which he alone was wrongfully held responsible—still weighed heavily upon him; in short, he did not possess that indescribable gift, that ardor and contagious self-reliance, which imparts to a chieftain a boundless authority over those surrounding him—qualities for which General Hancock was especially distinguished.
The latter as soon as he arrived assumed the command and applied himself to the task of restoring order among the troops who were hurrying in great confusion toward Cemetery Hill. The Eleventh corps, under the personal direction of Howard, reforms around Von Steinwehr, whose forces are drawn up across the Taneytown and Baltimore roads: the fugitives Who cover these roads are brought back into the ranks. Howard had ordered Doubleday to place himself on his left; Hancock points out to him with precision the position which two of his divisions are to occupy on the heights at the foot of which the Emmettsburg road winds, taking from him Wadsworth's division in order to place it over the dominating hillock of Culp's Hill. As we have already mentioned, this wooded hill commands the valley of Rock Creek, faces the heights of Wolf's Hill and Benner's Hill, and completely flanks the plateau of Cemetery Hill, with which it is connected by a ridge with steep acclivities. About five o'clock Wadsworth was taking possession of this important position. Order had gradually been restored in the Federal lines. The soldiers, encouraged by the sight of a powerful artillery firmly planted, got back to their ranks. They were again ready to wait for the enemy without flinching and to make an energetic defence.
But it had taken them one hour thus to re-form under the eyes of the Confederates; and the historian will now ask, as the Unionists themselves were then asking each other in astonishment, How is it that these adversaries, generally so prompt in striking blow after blow and to take advantage of the first success, have allowed them this precious respite, instead of gathering by a final effort the fruits of their victory? When Ewell entered Gettysburg in
