Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1847-06-18
From The New Orleans picnynne, June ..
10 THE PUBLIC.

An article in The Picayune Of the Goth ILL.,, sign
cd by Colonel Haskell and other officers Of The ID
Tennessee Regiment, addressed totis paJiic, calls
for some notice from me- This article PROCESSES
10 he "a simple statement Of faetS" and, IN advance
disclaims any other motive in making the publ
cation Than such as arises from desire 20 do
justice 10 others and 10 have justice for them
selves"
lilhosc gentlemen had made I correct statement
Of facts, and had left the public 10 fern lis own
judgment upon those facts, | should have been
content 10 have passed the publication by unno-
iiccd-for from statelnen, n facts haze adding
II Far.
This article processes 10 describe The cnemys
tc0rhs and The order Of attack Of my Brigade, IN
the battle oi Ccrro Gordo. II says-"TheIc were
on tho lire al works extending from the National
Road 10 the gorge Of tic mountains, through
which lie river passes, three works, known 10
our engineers as batteries Nos. !, = and z, aLa
that, b. the o.Ler OF battle Tor my breaoe' oaucly
No. e;na,rd uron Tho river l!aa, VAS 10 nave
bscn assaulted by Col. Wynkcop's regiment, sup
ported by Col. Campbell's; and battery No. was
10 have been assaulted By Haskeils regiment
supported by Col Roberts regiment
Instead oil three works in this line Of works, as
those gentlemen say, there were known 70 he iour
before he battle. Battery No. |, situated en- The
river bluff and No. > al the extreme lc;t Of The
enemyis Aae 0f Jreas,poyk, and moi nearer ~ Tie
point assaulted than from 100 10 COO yards, aud
batteries No. 3 and 4 were still farther towards
Tic National Road-the place assaulted made The
5,h battery. Col. Haskell (who is The author Of
this article, and whose motives for his assault
upon me will he apparent enough by and hy.)
saws further, that he vas 10 assault battery No.
,. and Col. Wnkoop battery No. |. Il never
was, however, intended BY me 10 assault bat
,eres Nos. / and :, and no order was ever
thot 1fia. %
assault battery No. =, Eor was that battery crer
assaulted. Col. Wynkoop was not ordered 10 as
sau,t battery No. |. The position intended 10 be
assaulted was, what was believed by both The en-
sineers and myself, 10 be The angle OF those bat
Ieres formed by he long line vi stone breast
works, about 400 yards lrcm battery Nc. |. In
my official report, bearing date Ism April, 1877,
and prepared Immediately after The battle hy an
officer o nv staff, (for being disabled in my right
arm could moi wriie,) distinctly stated that the
points Of assault were The adjacent angles OF bat
teries Nos | and ." Bul in the alter part Of
that report, Tor The sake Of breviy, and ior the
purpose Of designating The positions Of The two
assaultng forces, speak oil batteries Nos and
,, without repeating in each paragraph The words
"adjaccni angles"
Al this supposed oasls no guns conld be seen,
and none were believed 10 DC lherc-;hough on
The las, day OF reconnaissance, something pre-
senting The appearance u oac gun was sccn.-
Sill il vas believed 10 lie the weakest point in The
line Of works, and was, therefore, selected BY Inc
engineer on duty with my brigade Tor the assault.
Asreeaby 10 my plan of attack, Haskcll's as
sauling force was 10 attack The lei! al this angle
and Wynkoop's The right, 50 as 10 engage, al the
same tine, the forces npon both Sizes oil he angle
Genera! SCOTS order u battle was long, and reach
ed NC abuul o'clock The night of the !1ih and
ha,, nrt pFfr M
prepared and issued 10 mr. command. l., there
fore, sent Tor Colonies Campbell, Haskell, Wyn-
koop and Roberts, and al my own quarters read
10 them the general order Of battle, anil explained
10 them particularly the position Of the different
batteries, my position Tor assault, and The order OF
movemep, for each regiment, and The position 10
be assumed By each, preparatory 10 The assault.
The assault, was made a! The place previously
determined upon, and made known 10 these OH
GERS; and though this poin, turned gu! TO be
strong work, mounting eight pieces OF artillery
| Immediately in front, aud Two more on retired
line all which were, 10 The moment of attack,
entirely concealed and completely masked b. The
stone wall and brush; yet upto that time il was
believed 10 be an angle III the large stone breast
work connecting The batteries Nos. and 2.
| That such was the position intended 10 lie and
actually assaulted, will conclusyely appear from
nv official repous Of The battle made almost i'm.
media,ely after the battle, daled 18th and 18th
| April. marked A and b, and prepared long be-
| fore the appearance OF this attack Of Colonel
Haskell's: and get in the face Of these startling
errors or MISREPRESENTATION Of facts, This assault
mon me modeslly processes 10 be "Simplc State
men, Of facts" and made solely for The purpose
Of Justice 10 lie signes OF that article.
Colonel Haskell cannot understand why his re-.
eimen, was placed between Wynkoops and
Campbell's. and Camrbell's between his (Elas-
| keis) and Roberts, regiment, on the march from
| the encampment.
This (,o him) incomprchensibe order of march,
which he seems to think was hundcr Of mine,
will perhaps lie understood by him when state
The narrow pathway along which We were
OBLIGED 10 march pierced the enemy's line Of works
ius, al The place selected for The assault. By my
order Of The attack Wynkoop's assauling COL
pmn wa, 10 form on The lef! OF The PATH fronting
The rich, side Of The angle, and Haskell's assault
ing force was TO form on The right side of the PATH
and was 10 attack The works On The lei side OF the
angle. Wynkoop's position was further advanc'
ed on The road than HsskelFs, and therefore he
was placed in The advance. When Wynkoop's
regimen, reached lis position il was 10 form, and
| did form on the proper side Of The path. When
Haske,,'s regiment had formed il cleared the Path
for Col CampbelIs regimen! TO pass up 10 Wyn
Rooms support. The passage of Campbell's re-
cimen, leit The way clear for Robsrts's 10 CONF
forward 10 Haskels support. Thus it will b:
seen Thai The only order Of march BY which i
was ;mpossible 10 have placedthe regiments viii
-. ...n.,,;no torres in UrlnPr Dosiiion wa