The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1861-04-12
Tarlton's Campaigns.

We had occasion to state some time ago,
that our enterprising fellow citizen ADoLPHus
MORRIS, Esq, was about to publish new
edition of LEES Memoirs of the Southern
war, a work which ought never to have been
allowed to 60 so nearly out Of print as it has
done, and the re publication of which we are
well assured will amply compensate the pub
Usher for the trouble and expense There is
another work which, we believe, has never
been re published in this country, w hich exists
only in the English edition, which is of great
interest to the whole South and which we
should be glad to see unpublished here, under
the supervision of some competent person.
We allude to TARLTON's campaigns. They are
not written with the yigor and freshness of
LEES Memoirs, but they are full of Interest, jim
asmuch as they give the English view of the
great struggle in which we succeeded in es tab
fishing our liberty. The author, as our read
ers are well aware, was the most famous
man in all the Southern war so far as popu-
lar tradition goes. We have been assured by
those who lived near to the times, that for
many years after the war, TARLToN was a
name Of terror in all the households of Vir-
ginia. Nurses frightened cross children with
it, and old men entertained their boys with
long stories of the terrible partizan. Probably
no name was SO great detcsted throughout
the South. Cruel and remorseless, We pre-
sumo he was. to n certain extent We recol-
lect having heard An old gentleman say, when
he was 4 boy he went 10 a courthouse, soon
after the surprise OF BUFoRD's corps in the Wa
shaw settlements, and there saw q number OF
the men who had peen in the fight. They
were all, more or less. cruelty gashed. Some
of them had large cuts on the head or across
the face, some had lost several fingers, and
more than one had lost an arm, cut off as they
Were raising it TO implore the mercy OF
their executioners for it was little bet
teri than II massacre. Nevertheless, The
story il told with remarkable Impair
TALLY, and due credit is generally given to the
American officers when they deserve common
dation. In particular, the conduct of Gen.
GREENE i&ammepting battle at Guiiford, is
spoken Andsomest terms. He rep
resents Ing acted, in every respect,
like mal Iifuo military genius. He made
all his calculations before he engaged. He
duly weighed all the advantages, political and
military, to result from tory, and all the
disadvantages that could spring from defeat.
lie knew that if bea ten, he could rally again;
that if victorious, his enemy must be de-
the British army must suffer more than he
could 1t was far from It's resources and
every man struck by bullet was dead loss
Even II CoRswALLis defeated him, he knew
that he could not advance without mourning
the risk Of starvation; for his magazines
were two hundred miles off, and he
was in the midst of hostile population.
The calculations Of GREENE We're profound,
and proved correct. He was very near gain
ing the victory, and when forced to retire, did
so slowly and reluctantly, like lion that has
been driven from his prey. The next day he
was ready for another fight. When he adj
yanced, the victor was obliged to retire, laay-
ing some of his wounded in his hands. Thus
he managed to gather from defeat all the ad-
yantages OF victory, while his enemy suffered
from victory all the evils of defeat This
IL the sum Of what TARLros SAYS about
GREESE's conduct in accepting the battle Of
Guilford. lie is not 70 fair la describing tha
affair Of the Cowpers, where he was himself
defeated.
Without attributing TO TARLroE an ianpar.
tiaiity which Is hardly natural, it is easy to
account for the fairness with which he relat.
ed the events Of the Southern war. He had
been . great favorl,e Of CoRswALiis. He dis
suaded him from fighting the ba title Of 0nil.
ford, assuring him that victory would do him
no good, and that defeat would utterly ruin
him he dissuaded him from Invading Vir.
E