The  activity  and  vigilance  of  Stuart,  afterward  so  distin-
guished as  commander  of  cavalry  in  the  Army  of  Yirginia,  and
the  skill  and  daring  of  Jackson,  soon  by  greater  deeds  to  become
immortal,  checked,  punished,  and  embarrassed  the  enemy  in  his
threatened  advances,  and  his  movements  became  so  devoid  of  a
definite  purpose  that  one  was  at  a  loss  to  divine  the  object  of
his  campaign,  unless  it  was  to  detain  General  Johnston  with
his  forces  in  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  while  General
McDowell,  profiting  by  the  feint,  should  make  the  real  attack
upon  General  Beauregard's  army  at  Manassas.  However  that
may  be,  the  evidence  finally  became  conclusive  that  the  enemy
under  General  McDowell  was  moving  to  attack  the  army  under
General  Beauregard.  The  contingency  had  therefore  arisen  for
that  junction  which  was  necessary  to  enable  us  to  resist  the  vastly
superior  numbers  of  our  assailant ;  for,  though  the  most  strenuous
and  not  wholly  unsuccessful  exertions  had  been  made  to  reen-
f  orce  both  the  Armies  of  the  Shenandoah  and  of  the  Potomac,  they
yet  remained  far  smaller  than  those  of  the  enemy  confronting


1861]  TIMELY   JUNCTION  OF  FORCES.  345

them,  and  made  a  junction  of  our  forces  indispensable  when-
ever the  real  point  of  attack  should  be  ascertained.  For  this
movement  we  had  the  advantage  of  an  interior  line,  so  that,  if
the  enemy  should  discover  it  after  it  commenced,  he  could  not
counteract  it  by  adopting  the  same  tactics.  The  success  of  this
policy,  it  will  readily  be  perceived,  depended  upon  the  time  of
execution,  for,  though  from  different  causes,  failure  would  equally
result  if  done  too  soon  or  too"  late.  The  determination  as  to
which  army  should  be  reenforced  from  the  other,  and  the  exact
time  of  the  transfer,  must  have  been  a  difficult  problem,  as
both  the  generals  appear  to  have  been  unable  to  solve  it  (each
asking  reinforcements  from  the  other).
