New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-02-13
IiTer.
T. ,ss Esi.sr Of TIE N. y. 7'isyHe IN.

n
,s accompanied with an entirely gratuitous
o.uAd for "fug' at the Division COulmanccr,
o. csn. b. W. johnson, that ought not TO be
80 runo,iced and without contradiction. with
10 brief to give no man or troops credit for
.nv,binc they do not deserve, and to detraot from
fle fair fame OF moo
In the frs, place, the I'd Tor Krks) brigade OF the
Cd division, composing the extreme right, 10 my own
certain knowledge, was not surprised The men
we're unler arms when the attack was made, and
had been for OIL hour or more previous and l have
no doubt that the other TROOPS on the right were ID
the same condition, In the second place, the entire
right wing fought harder, longer and more Ces-
peratelY than any other troops Gu our side GuIlno
the whole FIVE days OF the battle Tor series on oss
tes Of Stones River. For proof, rospect'u'y 81
yen TO The incosed sliD, taken from Official dS'a III
the Adu'art-Gererale olcs: ov
SUMMARY OF CASUALTIES AT THE DAiLA~
STONES RIVER.
Killed .603l Wounded. ."''''''''"'i
Killed. wOunded''...''''''
v.,., sii TouGacd..".......2sis
Totsi iilel liza. Total wounded o'Si' q ooo
In addition we have lost as prisoners ABOUT ~'VV'
Won win notice that in " Pontmercys" letters he
rive. almost tie entire credit Of tho victory TO the
xCenter." Now take this statement oil losses, w''a
the fact that the right and left wings were each com
rosed of three divisions ana the center OF live dvi-
sioas and TIE battalion Of pioneers, and compare
the djsproporon Of losses and IL seems TO ne tuat
pp,ess Ire old way of estimating the amount and Sc
verify of Sighting done " tue numoer OF casuaties
In p-oror;ion 10 the number engaged ID done away
with aud ignored my assertion will be sustained.
1ake ono other statement of " PoDtnerCy =, and
Sc, ROW II agrees with the general tone OF ms et'ers
1--WE Of the regiments that he states " dhrns u.hed
themselves the l5h and 49th ono were N b. Joan
- Amin H.,
trnd;ctH himself in making the assertion when he
DOS, by duplication a, least, iha' the gh DID not
Srhf And now why was that the risht wing met
Nth the misfortune" as "Pontmercy calls II. or
In ntsor words, what was the csuse of It's falling
kockq Here viii quote fro.n Pontmercy, stat
Inu That his description of the masing OF the forces
on Wednesday evening IS true 10 the letter Iud ,nb
xyhat he says could not be At that tne was III
plan view of eye;y one on the ESht on descty
eyenjrc' and was tie cause Of orr temporary CsaS-
Ter: "YOu cav 10 EXTENDED hanks, with iesble
wiogs stretched far and wide, 10 tempt tue enter
priso of viiant foes" There rs precisely TIE ex-
rlanaion OF The whole thing. Iln his letter OF the
i0tn nc speaks OF the assngc Of TIE forces after the
disas,er on Friday morning; as there YVES rothinS
OF the kind on that day, ,presnnc that
Il was "msW!bt, and should lave been
wedpesday.l Our line extended from the river on
tbe left to The frankie Dirt road oil the right. The
cen or was about three miles and thc extreme night
shout two miles from hartIeesboro The wnole
lie shout 81 niles in length, with the reserve IN
tack wss made or the extreme night ia trout, aud
the flank, by four divisions, marching IN columns,
Gen or twelve ranks deep, thus bringing all before
them ADDER tremendous cross tire. Their tire WA
returned gsith deadly effect, the bodies ct dead
Rebeis atteslcd after the ground lad beer in their
possession Tor iiye days, IN ADDITION 10 tho graves
fled with those they found time 10 bury, and the
night fell back, when II WAS not more than ten yer1s
from the enemy IN many parts Of the Euei and to
slsy longer was 10 mter anniiistIOn, or 10 be taken
i1 ufs ne rs one
and was rapidly moving his LETT around 10 our rear
The rieht made second stand, no. 800 yards from
Its fIs position, whore II checked this imnens9 COL
omu, and held il, Eopirg every moment 10 receive
Requirements, bot none came. until the enemy
changed direction by his left flank, 20 az 10 orrg
oor iEc under a nurierous cross fire for the second
time. johnson Division formed three times siteF
thai, before II reached tho Nashville turnpike, when
1t did after ii O'clock ON the morning OF the olst.
Now il seems 10 me that there il not 30 much
haste about falling back as /" Pontmeroy" IN
Nnpa.es, 10 cay tie least. VIXEN yoa
take into consideration that II started jns'
at DAYLIGHT, say few minutes after b, aud
lad not but very little, il any, more space then
three miles 10 10, IN the face OF an oyeTowering
enemy. Cne thing more. IL order 10 ado insu't 10
injury, he" FontmercY" says: "Ai2s, noble siil
Had you retained command OF the dlvlsion VI hich
was the first 20 yield !" As 10 Gen. Sill, vino for
u,erly commanded this division, il 10 was now alive.
DO one would sooner condemn the use Of sacb MS
erabie innuendO 81 il contained IN these wof's
toward tine lresent commander, GGu. johnson, Tor
he WAS perfect gentleman AID Officer. ard the vssy
embodiment Of honor. Immediately after tho fgh,
wes over, some parties who had peTsoaat matter
T. avcrge, or perhags wanted 10 make sc3 pegcdi
OF some one for their own shortcomings cav IL 20
c,arle Gen. johnson with me whole Of the s0-callcd
disaster. The thing worked well Tor Il len days,
but has now, to a common expression, " played
out The truth will come in the official re-
ports, and | am Confident will reveal the
iact that neither Gen. JohnEon or tho com
usnder OF either of the other divisone
en- the right Gems. J. C. Davis and Sheridan nor
Gen. hcCook, commanding the corps, Were 10 blame
a. .he matter. Gen. ROsesrens--tban whom, ii my
opinion no better lighting mau or General lives
able TO bear all Of the blame there ia Gout IT, Gen
Bragg discovered the weak point on Iuc5day alter
noon. He Immediately masged his forces oppos.e
It, ard was thus ready TO throw ap overwhelming
force against it, which he cad. With any Other
cornmander than Gen. kosecrans we were whipped
badly on Wednesday, but it seemed that he hsd Just
fnirly walked up when allnost every one eisc was
ready 10 give up.
IL CONCLUSION, permit me 70 ssy thst my excuse
for writing This communication Is that very large
portion Of the people form their opinions from the
contents IL your paper aud that the character of
She troops OF the ID Division (haior-Gen. mcCooS
Old oomnsnd ii too higy prized Dy item to suffer
il 10 he traduccd wi,h0u; at least Claiming far
bearing. RioHT WIG.
Com1 S,u rear Gp,j,r.tsro, Ters.. Jan r. lsGi
Ia ->5.-- =
New Department Of tise East.
ugAoQCAHl ADS DEpkTSEaT os ruE EAST
hrrv- fDHy (FrTyF ei. 4