Shreveport news. [volume] (Shreveport [La.]) 1864-1865, 1865-05-09
The Mil tary Situation.


taIy situation from the light before us,
as it has been some weeks since We
had any data that could be regarded
as fully reliable.
The surrender OF Lee, with a por-
ton of his army. though no correct
Southern account Of the event has
yet been received, must be regarded
as true, though we ave vet III thr
dark as to the extent of the disaster.
The enemy's accounts ofthe number
of men surrendered. differ so widely
from each other. as to make it impos-
sible for us 80 reach conclusions per-
tectly accurate upon the subject
One account places our loss il men
rs high as rty-throe or four thous-
and, whilst others put it down rs low
as five thousand. The Washington
correSp anlent of the New York Fri
buuc says that less than 5000 men,
and less than 5000 muskets. Other
CORE pondtnts of Northern papers
concur in this latter statemcnt.-
Moreover as it is so much to the in
terest of the enemy to over rate rather
than under state the extent OF our
loss, We are very much inclined 10
the opinion that the statement of the
correspondent of the Tribune is at
least an approximate to the truth.
In addition to the above, we have
a verbal statement, coming from 3
Southern source, that agrees As t.
the number of men surrendered, with
the statement in the Tribune. The
Southern statement also Is, that but
few of Lees veteran forces Were en-
braced in the surrender; that there
lately raised in runond, and a
considerah.r number of militia. who
had seen bat little Of actual service.
What the actual extent OF our loss
in thr operations in and around
Richmond and Petersburg, from the
time Ct the capture of Fort Steadman
until the surrender. cannot be deter
mined with any accuracy s. fan
as We have Tie official statements Of
Gen. Lee. which come up to the evac-
uation Of Richmond and Petersburg.
or nearly so, it does not appear that
our losses were very heavy. On the
contrary, the loss said to have been
sustained by the enemy is reported
to have been heavy. Lees losses
subsequent to the. evacuation and
prior to the surrender, may have
amounted to two o. three thousand
men, and this agrees with some OF
the more candid accounts Of the enc
my. Lees losses, then. inclusive of
the capture Of Fort Steadman and
the surrender, could not have exce"-
ded from eight to ten thousand mus
l>rtS, and from twelve to fourteen
thousand men. The losses OF the en-
envy during the same period must
have reached twenty or twenty five
thousand mon, though it must be ac-
knowledged that ibis Is somewhat
above their actua! figures, but when
we consider the many gross eNag@"r-
atoms Of the enemy. and the great
interest they have in practicing a
deception upon Us ut this time, our
Statement; must be regarded as in the
main correct
The question then arises what be-
came Of the remaining portion of
Lees army Our information at this
time is too indefinite to allow posi-
lively correct answer. Some OF his
troops doubtless escaped and return
ed to their homes; but others, no
t,oubt, effected IA junction with the
army of Tennessee under Johnston.
We have positive information that
the process of evacuation had been
going on for nearly two months prior
to the actual evacuation by Lee, but
what portion Of the force actually eff
fected JUNCTION with Johnston, we
cannot with any accuracy state.
One fact, we think, we can state
with truth, and that is, that John
ston is in command, in North Caro-
lima, of a large veteran army, mum
bering not less than fifty and proba-
hly one hundred thousand men-l