The statements in his letter to Colonel Talcott are contradicted by a letter from General Lee to Stuart, dated 5 P. M., June 23. 1863. A copy of this letter appears in General Lee's letter-book in Colonel Taylor's handwriting. Colonel Taylor says Stuart "was admonished all the while to keep in touch with our main army and to keep General Lee informed as to the movements of the enemy."
Colonel Taylor depends on his imagination for his facts. I defy him to point out one word in General Lee's letter to Stuart about keeping "in touch with the main army," or keeping General Lee "informed of the movements of the enemy."
"It was in reference to this oblivion which has come over General Lee's staff officers that I said the Homeric legend of the Lotus-Eaters, who lost their memory, is no longer a romance, but a reality.
LEE'S ORDERS OF JUNE 22.
On June 22d, General Lee had written Stuart to leave two brigades of cavalry with him, and to cross into Maryland with three brigades, "and take position on General Ewell's right, place yourself in communication with him, guard his flank, keep him informed of the enemy's movements, and collect all the supplies you can for the use of the army. One column of General Ewell's army will probably move towards the Susquehanna by the Emmittsburg route, another by Chambersburg." This letter is in Colonel Charles Marshall's handwriting. General Lee was then in the Shenandoah Valley with the corps of Longstreet and A. P. Hill; Ewell was about Hagerstown, Md., and had been ordered to the Susquehanna.
According to Colonel Taylor, General Lee issued an absurd order requiring Stuart to cross the Potomac and put himself on Ewell's right flank on his march to the Susquehanna, and at the same time keep in touch with the other two corps; and in addition to watch and report to him the movements of Hooker's army on the Potomac. If Stuart could have performed all those things he would have surpassed anything in the enchanting tales of the Arabian Nights.
Colonel Taylor does not say what General Lee expected to do with the two brigades of cavalry he kept with him in Virginia.
