, 1864-10-28
Decentralization OF Ear1yss Army-The
he0e1 cavalry In q had War.

1GVG4 NA&A&fy AU h kEAQ AaTe
The Riehrsond Enquirer Of October II, In
a lcDg article upon the subject of the rebel
cavaIry and its ineftfclency, takes occasion
to copy the following extracts from the let
ter Of an cf1cer in Early's corps, It pre-
senfe Ell interesting md comical picture OF
the s'chivalg" In the demoralizatlou pro-
dnced By the repeated defeats inflicted By
Sheridan The writer says:
what our cavalry costs is awful. The
value OF the barns burnt, the crops destroy
ed, the cattle Killed or carried OF, the horses
stolen, the money {go1d and silver enacted
from even the poorest families, under the
threat Of burning. the houaes over their
heads, the less Of material, and the fur
greater and more bitter loes OF morale, such
as ts inflicted upon us by ths ,.norztanlzed,
deno7Gl,1,d and dc,nora!izing stnt4lacsun Of
ca.a',y, would pay for tie organization,
horses inclnded. and the support Of aix
thousand % %cavalEy for st1 weeks. II WON'T
running win apple brandy."' / tel you,
dear sir, there is nothing running N
this valley Ike our cavalry; the
valley ia now our Valley Of Humilia-
drinking, and more GOOD Mging in tbs yal.
leJ in the glorious times or Jackson than
there Is DOW; Jet be took, If am we'll In
formed, crv cred and odd pieces of artil-
lery. 1ruul It's Yankees. In this campaign
we have taken but ten pieces from the enc
my, While the enemy have taken thirty-one !
one against Us. In Jackson's time what lit
tic We had Of cavalry was Aslb5an. l can
so speak, and the Yankees had not yet turned
cut against us their we'll equipped, well or
gantzed, well mounted, well d!scI pliued
cavalry. That cavalry Was in the course Of
formation. Since it has made Its appear
ance On the seat of war We all know what
has happened. They have bearded the lion
In bis den; In the suburbs Of Richmond, or
two hundred mi1es from It, towards almost
every point Of the compass; they have led
on the fat OF the land, and left behind them,
mlneling With the smoke Of their camp nres,
tieces OF the ponltry yard, the |
llarder and the grazing ground, the
larger volumes OF smoKe arising from those
fires by which we're destroyed private and |
government property, barns and bridges,
such an amount that the most obtuse Con-
gresham must now see plainly TINT cheap |
cavalry ia ruinous thing Well, cir, You
should see some of our cavalry btigaaes; 1t |
is perfect mockery; they make even the |
Yankees laugh. lmhoden's cavalry .(as 1t
Unlimited fur1ongh; for, Without any trait- |
orous design on tnei1 part, they give more !
ssaid and comfort" t. the enemy than trait |
o1s and Union men will ever be able to |
give.
Why, the thing must be taken up In ear
nest ee, hope, By this time, everybody Is
open to conviction on the subject As gen
Yankees in army organization, discipline and
drill; IN that way they have been gaining |
ground, inch By inch upon us. Ne hare !
opened a military school for their benefit; |
they have even learned from III how to fight; |
could, We only learn from them how to organ
ize and keep organized, the next year could
witness the end Of the war, at least on our
own territory. It twothirds OF onr men are
abaenttes, ii IS evident that the great ques-
tion with US lie, not how to cali the men 10,
but how to keep them in. Many men have |
deserted, Lot because Of the iightiog or the
discipline, but in some regiments, to my
certain knowledge, from the want Of elther.
They said that the army Was hum
bug. Disafection and Weariness are the
fountain head Of desertion, not cowardice;
your true coward dare not desert; besides,
coward among US 1s, to say the truth, q rare
bird. Keep the men employed at all times.
treat them with tJustlce, let faVor1usm and
neposism be ,Weeded out Of reglmental Or
ga1fzahon let every nan belong TO COM
pa1y which he can be proud Of. in Its num-
be1s, officers, discipline, drill and manage
Ment; let every regiment be formed Of such
companies wherein every individual feels
that be is q unit and component part OF
something respectable and respected In guam"
tity not less than in quality; let wholesome
and not epasmodic discipline, bind officers
and men to their dut5; let 1t be remembered
at the same time. that discipline flow from
above to below. through the reg.
ular chaonel, if you please, and
that no discipline will reach the privates that
has not passed through the officers, by whse
l mean TO eay that the amount OF discipline
and orderly spirit found among the priyates
Is faithful exponent Of whatever Quantity
Of discipline may be found In tie officers
themselves; whence 1t follows that the OIL
Gers must themselves be the first enbodi-
mcnt OF discipline. AL that IL not only
easy to do but easy to hear; for discipline Is
much more lenient and mild than caprice,
which Is : tyrant, or license, which is i
stumbling block.