Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1863-11-20
THE CAVALRY OF GEN. LEES ARMY
T. the Editors Of Tie Enquirer:
AaHY OF NoRTGsRS NIRsISIA,
Nov. l4th 1868.

A2HY OF N0RTHHRS lk@lHia, |
Nov. l4th 1868.
An ie.o-ant and bitter enemy Of tie caval
ry Of this army, and its commander, Gen }. f
Z. Stuart, vents his spleen and malice ngans
18th in late number ofthe Richmond Wing
Leaving out of view the Question whether
the "2Yhig" could rot tiMd scme betfsr.oce
patton than filling It's columns with the spite
full cFusions of secret enemies Of tic govern
mont. and those brave men who arc battling
for our lihcrties, beg leave to offer lew
words in reply to the article signed "ln7csti"
gator," above referred to
This is not the first tune that an elaborate
attempt has -been made to lower, in
public estimation, body Of men us
brave and patriotic, ard whose services
have been as effective rs those of any
other arm Of the service. Tho game that las
been played is now. revealed, and, what is more,
the Individuals engaged tn this corert plot arc
knoua. The pubic are not ignorant of the
indians used to undermine the hard earned
glories of the cavalry. The attack commenced
Fin ccrtain newspapers, in the form of anony-
sm0us letters, sneering at this and that move
sfnent as inindic Gus or a failure Then tho
least reTersc-the slightest failaro to whip the
cuCilJJ cfell luUuHu LucS wa
forces tcnfold-was paraded az an evidence of
the worthlcssncss Of our cavalry. Next, such
splendid and memorable victories as those at
Kelleysrille in March, and Brandy in June,
of this year, were sneered at as "surprises"
and the charges were rung on the phrases,
"thc cavalry were SURPRISED, ''the cavalry
fell back" until the Ignorant or thoughtcss
portion OF the community began seriously to
III. H.,
worthless as it, cncInics made it out. liu! de-
nunciation of the cavalry wasnnt enough. A
part Of the programme was To destroy public
confidence in the capacity Of Gen. Stuart, and
represent him as unfit for his command
The mcst Incredible lics-l can call them by
no ether namc-werc invented to blackan his
pure fame. They Dared not FAY he wanted
courage, 50 the report vas industrlous!y spread
that he neglected his command for social dl-
versions. and some Of these writers Einted III
print. and soi IN pyirdte, that lie had been re.
primandcl hy Gen. Lee for the circumstances
attending the battle Of Brandy. Gen. Lees
letter, warmly commending the courage oltlc
cavalry ard The skill and judgment, used in
is handling on the latter occasion, would
!'avc diSIracad the authors Of the public accn-
sa;ion, had they hcen known-but what did
they care? Theym.Tc not kaOmm: and they
wr::G'ci cf - watch some new opportunity "i
ventns their personal cnm:ty against the
cavalry and its commander.
It must have caused these anonymous cne-
mics bitter N,n% when they read, day afte:
day, lately, Of the accounts of the glorious
deeds achieved by this nuch-ahuscd arm of the
serTicc-whcn the whole community followed
tn. victorious march of the. cavalry from the
Rrpi,an tr TIE plains Of Manassas, and saw
that in encounter after encounter of the most
desperate character they defeated and drove
before them nos only the mounted men, bn:
the best infantry of the enemy also. Malice
is ncrsevcring, however, and these very glO-
ries Of tho hatcl cavalry cnly spurrcd its bit
ter fees into renewed rzertions to prejudice
the public against it. The latest edition of
these calumn:es is the article Of "1nvestiga-
tor" to which the Richmond "Whig" in
these times Of Ligh priced paper and scanty
snace, gives some three or four columns OF
solid type.
"In7cstigator" enters upon tremendous
display of military crudtion in relation to
the cavalry of ancient and modern times; but
ttn real intention of lis long-winded disqui
stion appears at the end. The whole is in
tended simply 10 introduce an attack upon the
caralry Of the Army OF Northern Virginia
and Major General Staart. Wheeler and the
Western cavalry, according to this writer
have done everything worth notice in the
present war. General Stuart. "c6mmanliHJ
trcnty or Mitty thousand caratry," has done
nothing. The Chickahominy expedition
around Mcclellan only PUT the Yankee Gene
raj on i,;s guard. Catlett's Station was pret
t. good but not so much. The march tt
Pennsylvania was worse than all. Other per
f,rmances of tho cavalry are not mentioned
hus It is to he inferred that the critic regard.
All else which they have done as beneath hi:
notice.
1t is fortunate that history does not TROUBLE
itself with newspaper articles; lnd the story
Of this war will do full justice to the cavalr,
But, for tho benefit OF those Of the present
generation who make up their opinions from
journals, will say Il few words of these ex'
petitions.
The "Cbickahominy raid" as it is called
established the fact that McClellan's right
flank was unprotected by Qualifications, an;
proved the feasibility Of Jackson's flank
movement which was determined upon from
Me hour whcn he information reGrhc,l Gen
Ire. The raid, in addition to this, threw the
enemy into 4 panic, when their newspaper.
sufficiently proved, and e.nsed Mcclellan tr
detach ten or fifteen thousand men to guayd tn
communications IN his rear. ''lnvnstiga;cr'
saws that the expedition knocked mp 300 horses
however That was unfortunate, but it was
balanced by the dciiverance of the Confederate
Capital from al danger in the complete over
throw Of McClella
! The raid around Popc, to Catlett's, is also q
small affair in "Investigator's" eyes; and ye
at Catlett's our cavalry captured dispatches
letters, and orders, belonging to Gen. Pope
| which shomcd his 1rholc hand 10 Gen. Lce ana
led Immediately to Jachson's great .fank NOR,
mcni-No. 2-agaiast Manassas, ,chere M'
enemy ,cere second time orcrthro1n.
The Pennsylvania campaign is the third sin
Of the cavalry, yet, in that march they effected
their object they tore mp the railroads in
| Maryland and Pennsylvania. directly between
| Gen. Meade and the capital, whence he de-
rived all his supplies. They captured over
! two hundred wagons and teams within four
miles of Washington, throwing the author
! ties there and ut Baltimore, into a frenzy q
alarm; they engaged and held in check a
! IIanovertown, two divisions of the enemy
cavalry, which was then concentrating for AZ
attack ON Gen. EwelPs flank aud rear as he
returned from York they destroyed pub
: lie buildings of the greatest value a
! Carlislc-and they arrived at Gettysburg
; by marches Of unexamplcd rapidity, in
time t, take part in the battles of tho %
and Sd of july. One cf the "InvestiCa!or'
tribe. some time since brought charge o.
"knocked up horses against this expedition tot
writing private note TO the editor of the
E: EXAMINER" requesting him to blow up Genera
S,nor.'' for the horses sake. The response o
the Examiner" that above>board advocate o
fair play, was not encouraging. It is pity sha
; the "Whig' did not initiate it.
It would be tedious to follow Investigation
in all his misrepresentation. One summary viii
DO. The cavalry are badly armed, badly equip,
red. and with utterly inadequate supplies 8
forage Neither proper weapons, proper saddles
nor 4 sufficient number OF horse-shoes are fur
uished them. They wear down their horses
endure every hardship, and ponr out their b!oo'
in hundreds of encounters on the ou'posts which
ara never heard Of only to reap the bitter reward