Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1863-10-15
From the Richmond whig. Oct. 2.
The Rebel Cavalry.

A special dispatch to the Richmond
Enquirer, dated Orange Court House,
September %, 1863, says: A considera-
BILE cavalry fight occurred to-day, begin
ming near Madison Court House Our
forces fell oack some three or four miles.
True, in this instance, "we captured
seven Yankees, and there may havebeen
good reasons for falling back. But
this tune of '' our cavalry fell back, is
becoming too familiar in the Army ol
Northern Virginia Nobody expects
our cavalry now to do anything but
fall back.
Time was, when Stuart's cavalry was
the pride of the country. 1t was never
dreamed that the clumsy Yankee, un
used to horseback, could rival, much less
surpass it, but such is the lamentable
fact Since Kelly's Ford, and the great
review at Culpepper Court House for the
benefit of the ladies, our cavalry has
gone under, and we have been forced to
the shameful admission that Yankee
tailors and shoemakers on horseback are
superior to the cavaliers of the South.
Certainly the cavalry engagements Of the
last six months have ended with the same
old song, "our cavalry fell back"
The cause of this deterioration is un-
known to u.s. 1t is alleged that the
enemy's horse is invariably supported
with artillery and infantry; but this is
denied by competent authority in regard
to the most famous cavalry fall back +"
of the war, that from Middleburg to Ash
by's Gap. But be that as it may, we
slso have artillery, comprising some of
the best batteries in the service, con-
nected with our cavalry, and the artil-
lerists fight bravely, so much so, indeed,
that their guns are captured for want of
support. IT issa .1
If this painful state of things be not
past cure, we suppose the commanding
General will apply the necessary RENE
dy, else our cavalry will soon become a
disgrace to the country, and be scoffed
at by the people as they now are by the
infantry. What makes our modification
over these innocent "fallings back ten
fold more accute, is the fact. that a ma
jo,ity of the cGUaI,ymeH are 'Virginidns
Later accounts go to show that the
dispatches Of the 22d, to the Enquirer,
were based upon misrepresentation of
cowardly fngitives, and that our cavalry
acted wei, J all things considered Still
there was a falling back, in spite of the
fact that General Lee knew the attack
was going to be made, and was "wide
awake 1t. /. has been long since we
heard of anything brilliant achieved by
cavalry, and now would be good time
to give the country pleasant surprise.
As appropos to this subject, we quote
the following extracts from letter to
the Examiner, dated Abingdon, Va, de-
failing the results of operations in the
vicinity of Bristol, Tenn. The writer
says:
Struggling parties of our glorious
cavalry, without guns, pistols or sabers,
are now slowly vending their way to the
front-a mighty good sign there is no
danger in that direction. They are the
laughing stock Of the women: hpt the a
their hogs and cornfelds.
cat Bristol there was not Confederate
soldier, except the flying cavalry, who
inspired pity and contempt rather than
confidence. Under these circumstances
any resistance on. the part of the citi
zens would have been worse than use
less, as being hopeless; it could Only
have resulted in the certain destruction
of the town Had the Confederate au
thorities made any show of fight, the
citizens, almost to man, would have
stood by them.
"The uninitiated may think that the
panic at Bristol, and the desertion and
destruction of property there are new
things, unusual circumstances Not so
unfortunately These same panics, maC
flights of cavalry and Government off
GERS, with their lamentable consequen
ces, have occurred in hundreds of pla
ces where the Yankees have approached
but there has been no one to tell the dis
graceful tale That the Republic shoulC
suffer no detriment, newspaper men hav
been disposed to suppress and CLOS
over shameful acts | have seen thi
done, and think it has been done lon
enough"