, 1863-10-12
GEN, LEES REPORT.

Exl7
GEN. LEES REPORT.
How Hooker 0ntgeneraled Him.
xy,x Plan. xerc ali Defeated and Him
aelf with Thcm.
Glen. Lee haa made cautious report Of tho
,,laps and objects CT his Penns5ivanfa cam
.pasen, but he shows plainly that they we1e all
defeated. He speaks of "othor valuable re. |
suits to be attained BY military SUCCESS" bat
Is the military success was not attained, this |
otht Is did not appear; and We doubt II he
saw the signs that he expected.
Ho says be undertook to draw Hooker north
for the purpose Of attacking him. Hooker
marched north, but Lee Gays he pursued tho
roads near the Potomac, aud no favorable op-
portunity was offered Tor attack. Surely /
there wero all the battle-flelds they had fought
over before. But It seems from this that Leo
expected Hooker would follow his march
westward into the Valley Ct Virginia. aud
leave Washington and the North open. In
this he reckoned without Ills host,
Less march began on tho Sd Of June. It
was promptly discovered, and he admits that
Hooker's dispositions disconnected his plan.
A national force crossed tho Rsppahannock,
anl threatened the rear Of the rebel column.
A cavalry force CROSSED higher up and attack
ed. Lee says 1t was repulsed, but these op-
e1ations must. hare delayed his movement.
Lees forces captured Winchester, of course.
The place WAS indefensib1e, aud the only al
tentative offered to Its commander, upon tbs
advance Of heavy force, WA to run In ad-
vance, or wait to retreat with honor, and bo
cut up. The court martialing Of the Com.
mande1 at Winchester ls only diversion to
discover the ipcapacity that placed him there.
Lees advance had reached the Potomac aud
still Hooker Tas marching North covering
Washf. gton. To draw him from hls base,
Lee oroet ed Lopgstreet's corps to march east
Of Blqs Ridge, and occupy tho gaps In Bull
was thrown ont beyond. This MAS attacked
By 1ur cavalry, ana after teyere tight driven
bacl:-t A part Of Ewell's corps entered Mary
land, and JenkinR' cavalry penetrated to
| Chenbersbutg. 1t ts interesting to rea1 the
i statement Of General Lee that these demon.
strations did mol have the effect to cause our
/ army ID leave Virginia, and that neither did
| Hooker Eeem dispose to advance On Long
street. Therefore he WAS Withdrawn and the
] whole srmy pushed forward in pursuance of
It's undertaking 70 draw Uooke: out Of Vir-
ginia and aoay from his base.
| Lee marched TO CnambersbuTE, ard on the
Goth was about pushing on to Harrisburg,
Wien he heard that Hooker had crossed tho
Potomac. No eoopef had be acco nplished
his object Of drawing Hooker hom Virginia
and farther from his base, than he found bis
~
NECESSARY 10 concentrate his forces, and the
yari. US corps took up the N arch TO Gettys-
burg. By singular fatality, Stuart's cay
airy, which Was left behind to harass cur
crossiug OF the Potomac, beng unable to ct
feet anJthipg serious, marched to jsln the
main bcdy, By such a ron 9 that our column
Was inleIposed bet seen it aid Lees army
until it 1e"ebtu Getty sbuns, 80 that Les de-
Rived no information from that.
/ Lee HI ew nft.o Ut the movements Of our
army, and be eays Lia march towura Gettys
burg was more letsu'ely than Il would have
eious nnd two Of Hil1's, came upon the nd
Ea1 ce tf Howard's corps beyond Gettysburg.
That affair Is well kloar to our readers.
On our part, it was ra6h, brave and disas-
tIous. Our leading diEisiou, coming sudden
y upon the enemy. deploJed Into 1ino On the
stcrpitg to find out the force They had to
encounter. The Ie.ult Was seyera aud
bloody rrpnlec, and heavy 1oss in pd:on.
crs; but, as vas supposed ut the time, aud
rs Lee now says, this success encouraged the
enemy to make the attack which resulted In
their fetal 1eral4e and the defeat Of tho whole
campaign.
Lee says: "It had not bean intended to
fight q general battle at such q distance from
our bare, unless attacked By the enemy; hut
finding ourtelTes unexpectedly confronted BY
the Federal army, It became matter Of diff.
/ rttfv rsitht rAw fhrrurh tha m ~ Al q
With CUR large trains" It seems that he W.s
pushing north to draw Hooker from his base,
20 as to attack him, but did not intend to at
tack him SO far from his own ba!e. In short,
In marching north to draw Heoker, he caught
| Lee shows, also, that the anticlpaHons Of
drawing unbound.d supplies from the agrl
cultural stores 1f Pennsylvania, were disap-
pointed. The transferring OF the scene ot
hostilities north Of the Potomac, did not an
abled to restrain his foragipg parties by &C.
cupying the passes In tho mountains with
regular and local troops, ard battle TINS
became in \ measure unavoidable. "There
were also yaluable results that would ensue
from the defeat Of Aeade's army" The first
conflict was On the morning of July 1st. In
stead If following up thaikgreat SUCCESS, the
attack Was not made until the afternoon oI
the I'd. Leesays Of this delay: '.Theatt
was not pressed that afternoon, the cnemy'a
| 1QFE6 uelph uQku0Hu, AuQ II De1DE AQVl6a01e
to await the arrival Of the rest of our troops"
This YVES remarkable prudence upon the
hee1o Of luch success. But this enabled onl
army 10 c. me up also, and to take up strong
! position, strengthen 1t. and make aliits dispo
I. eiIons for pitched battle. Ths operation Was
deliberate ra,hez than Nspoleonlc. All things
being duly prepared, Lee attacked at the ma
tu1e hour Of tho afternoon OF the I'd. Afte1
severe fighting he had Bome success on hl:
right, where his plan was to get hold Of !.
commanding point In cur position, which en-
/ couraged lin to renew the attack next DAP
j in which he admits decisive repn1ee. III
! mseuan' mous1J Says, more may nave been re
CURED ct his troops than they we're able tt
perform, and gives the highest praise to thei
, Yalor AID fortitude.
Lees account OF his retreat will not teu6
!. to mitigate the public disappointment ths
he vas not attacked. Nor will his showing
that his campaign was completely. foiled bl
the movements Of Hooker, soften the publi'
contempt for the carpet genera1ship that rails
ed difference with him about The adding o
the Haper's Ferry garrison OF II GOO men te
bis army, after their position had been render
ed Of no importance. and which, for this
caused charge Of commanders in the face Q
, the euemy, and then gave up the point to hi
successor.-Eincinnat Gdz<tte.