This  entire  scene,  with  all  its  details  of  wonderful  pathos
and  deep  meaning,  had  lasted  but  a  few  minutes,  and  yet
it  was  a  powerful  factor  in  the  rescue  of  Lee's  army.  It
had  lifted  these  soldiers  to  the  very  highest  plane  of
martial  enthusiasm.  The  presence  of  their  idolized
commander-in-chief,  his  purpose  to  lead  them  in  person,
his  magnetic  and  majestic  presence,  and  the  spontaneous
pledges  which  they  had  just  made  to  him,  all  conspired
to  fill  them  with  an  ardor  and  intensity  of  emotion  such
as  have  rarely  possessed  a  body  of  troops  in  any  war.
