At Culpeper, the perils and predicaments of war were forgotten for one brief, shining moment as Stuart and his officers were feted with a grand ball on the eve of a great military review. Amid the gala decorations and cheerful celebration, hopes soared high and dreams seemed near. A somber truth awaited, however, on the green fields and wooded ridges of a Pennsylvania crossroads called Gettysburg. There, in almost exactly one month, the hopes and dreams of the Southern people would begin to fade in the greatest and bloodiest battle ever waged in North America. This night, however, dreams of life, love and Southern nationhood seemed as real as a soft summer evening. It was a night of candlelight and roses.