Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1866-01-05
HAVANA, Dec. IS, 1865

Oloc Aiiotoi VI 'iAS ii'i''i AiAo' SiSnto VI .Ae
Confederates. ". ]. News
HAVANA, Dec. IS, 1865.
To the Editor ofMc 1New York Neus:
Having seen it stated in several papers pub
lished in the United States that [ am an APP
plicant for pardon, desire to say, through
your columns, that there is no truth whatever
in this statement. I have neither made nor
authorized such application, and would not
accept pardon from the President Of the
United States if gratuitously rendered me
without conditions or restrictions Of any kind.
| have nothing to regret in the course pur-
sued by NE during the war, except that my
services were not Of more avail to the cause
for which fought; and my faith in the JUS
tice of that cause is not at all shaken by the
result.
| have not given parole or incurred any
obligation to the authorities of the United
States, and utterly disclaim all allegiance
to, or dependence upon, the Government of
that country. ! am a voluntary exile from
my own country, because am not willing to
submit to the foreign yoke imposed upon it..
All declarations attributed to me which are
inconsistent with the above statement, are
entirely without foundation, and hope there
will be no further misapprehension as to my
position.
The reports of the campaigns of 1864 and
1865 by Secretary Stanton and Lieutenant
General Grant, recently published, contain
many erroneous statements which do great
injustice to the Confederate armies. The
press in the Southern States is at present eff
fectually muzzled by military rule, and the
Confederate cause has no appropriate organ
by which the ears Of the world can be reached
The time will arrive, however, when true
history of the warfare can be written so as to
enable foreign nations and posterity to do
Justice to the character of those who have
sustained SO unequal struggle for all that
is dear to man. In anticipation of that time,
| will call attention to some facts which will
show the tremendous odds the Confederate
armies had to encounter.
Mr.. Secretary Stanton's report shows that
the available strength present for duty in the
army with which Gen. Grant commenced the
campaign Of 1864 vas, on LIST of May, 1864
as follows;
The Army of the Potomac
(under General Meade) 40, 3se
The Ninth Army Corps
(under Gen. Bu,nside) 2O1S0
Aggregate l4l,lee
Beside this, he says the chief part of the
force designed to guard the Middle Depart
ment and the Department Of Washington
'was called to the front to repair losses in
the Army of the Potomac" which doubtless
was done before that army left the vicinity
of Spottsylyania Court House, as General
Grant says: ''The 18th, 18th, 18th, 10th,
18th, and 18th (of May, 1864 were con-
sumed in maneuvring and waiting for re-en-
forcements from Washington, and Mr.. Stan
ton says the sending Of these troops to the
front caused the detaching from General Lees
army of the force under me to threaten Bal
timore and Washington The available
strength of the forces in those departments,
on the lst of May, according to Mr.. Stan
toms report, was as follows:
In the Department Of Washington 42,l24
In the Middle Department 1921
Aggregate. 47,751
Of which it may be safely assumed that at
least &C, 000 men were sent to the front, as
General Grant says that, when approached
Washington, the garrisons of that place and
Baltimore were made up of heavy artillery
regiments, hundred days men, and detach-
ments from the Invalid Corps" and hence
it became necessary to send troops from his
army to meet me- This, therefore, made an
army Of over $50 900 men which General
Lees army had to meet before, as ] will
show, it had received any re-enforcaments
whatever. This estimate does not include
the rc-enforcements received in the way of
recruits from voluntary enlistments and the
draft, which were entirely going on, nor does
1t include re-onforcomcnts from The Northern
Department and thc Department Of the Ea.t