The fighting 189'a yell rent the air that must have been heard
for miles around.' The Texans urged Lee to
go back, shouting that they would not go
forward until he did so. A soldier (there
would later be dozens of claimants for the
honor) grasped Lee's bridle and turned
him back.
A participant in the event, writing soon
thereafter, noted that Lee had not said
much, but it was 'his tone and look, which
each one of us knew were born of the
dangers of the hour' that 'so infused and
excited the men.' A Texan next to the
observer, 'with tears coursing down his
cheeks and yells issuing from his throat
exclaimed, "1 would charge hell itself for that
old man."'
Lee went back. The Texans went forward
and redeemed their pledge. Federal bullets
hit nearly three-fourths of them within a few
minutes, but they stabilized the situation
and saved the day. The 'Lee-to-the-Rear'
episode immediately became an integral part
of army lore. A monument at the spot today
says simply, 'Lee to the rear, cried the
Texans, May 6, 1864.'
Once Longstreet's reinforcements had
stabilized the situation, the Confederate
commanders looked for a means to regain
the initiative. They found it in an unfinished