It was Sickles fighting his way home again.

When we came nearer and filed to the right to take position on the Elley's Ford road, the men struck up John Brown's song, and gave the chorus with a will.
Their cheerful demeanor and proud bearing renewed the confidence of the army, who felt that the arrival of Reynolds' corps, with its historic record, was no ordinary reinforcement.
We were now on the extreme right of the other forces, on the Elley's Ford road, with the right flank thrown back behind Hunting Creek.
Hooker was very much discouraged by the rout of the Eleventh Corps.
An occurrence of this kind always has a tendency to demoralize an army and render it less trustworthy; for the real strength of an armed force is much more in _opinion_ than it is in _numbers_.

A small body of men, if made to believe the enemy are giving way, will do and dare anything; but when they think the struggle is hopeless, they will not resist even a weak attack, for each thinks he is to be sacrificed to save the rest.

Hence Hooker did not feel the same reliance on his men as he did before the disaster.

He determined, nevertheless, to continue the battle, but contract his lines by bringing them nearer to Chancellorsville.