Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-01-04

= The disparity Of the forces Of Sheridan
and r1vself in the Valley campaign wa
even greater than that between Lee an'
q / Grant. NY force, when / arrived il
} front Of the f0rtifications Of Washington
on the eleventh of July, eighteen hun
; dred and sixtv-four, was eight THOUSAND
muskets, three small battaiiOEs Of Artil
lery with about forty field pieces, o
which the largest were twelve pCunde
!, Nap0leons, and about two THOUSAND
badly mounted and equipped Cavalry, o
J which a large portion had been detached Z
cut the railroads leading from Baltimore
north. Gen. Grant says that two divis
ions Of The Sixth Corps AMI the advance
. of the Nineteenth Corps arrived a
Washington before I did, and Mr.. stan
ton says I was not there Dy
. the time Of the arrival Of the sixth
Corps, 3 part Of the Nineteenth corp
under Gen. Emory, and part OF tnt
Eighth Corps under Gen. Gilmore Ny
force had then marched over i've hun
dred miles each day, except the day o.
the fight at MonOcacy, when 10 marched
fourteen miles, and fought and defeated
Wallace.
Al the battle OF Winchester, or Ope-
/ ouan as il is called by Gen. Grant, my
effective strength was about eight thOus-
aEd i've hundred muskets, the three bat
tali0us o. artillery, and less than three
thousand cavalry. Sheridan's Infantry
consisted Of the Sixth, Nineteenth and
/ Cooks Corps, composed OF one division
Of the Z ghth Corps and what was called
the Army OF West Virginia" some
isea NAV be formed Of the strength oi
the sixth Corps. when IL Is recollected
that the Army Of the Potomac was COM
poseG OF three corps on the first Of May
1revious. 20 wit the Second, Fifth and
sixth, aud that its effective strength
then was, according 10 Ar. stanton g
statement, one hundred and twenty
thousand three hundred and eighty
SIX. The ssme statement shows that
the available strength OF the forces
I'D the Department Of West Virgins
0a the first OF Nav, thirty thousand,
seven hundred and eighty-two, and most
Of the troops in this department were
I concentrated in the Valley. Documents
I subsequently, captured showed the
strength OF the Nineteenth Corps 10 have
at the battle Of Winchester, not less tnan
twelve Thousand active men. Oi1elal
/ reports captured al Cedar Creek showed
! that Sheriian's Cavslry, on the seven
I teenth OF September two days before the
fight. numbered ten thousand one hun
.
. vastly superior To mine in number Of
+ men and guns. The Sixth Corps alone
must nave exceeded my entire strength,
unless Il had met with such tremendous
. losses as % reduce its strength at least
. rhree-f0urths. From all the information
# received, and from documents captured
az Cedar Creek, ! am satisfied that
~heridan's effective infantry strength At
/ Winchester could not have been less than
rllfrty-five thousand muskets, and IL was
probably mora. The odds against me,
/ therefore, were fully four 70 one, and
! probably more. His very great superb
I ority in cavalry was very dlsadvsnJa-
/ geOus 10 ne, IS the country was very
open and admirably adopted 70 cavalry
I cuarari0ns. and my cavalry, being mostly
armed with Enfield rifles without pistols
I OF sabers. could not fight his, whose
I equipment and arms were complete. Al
1 tie firhr at Cedar Creek I had been re-
iDforeed bv one division OF infantry
.Eersha.c'sI numbering Jwenty-seven
hundred nluskets, one small battalion OF
artillery, and about six hundred cavalry,
which about maIe up my losses at Win
chester and Fishers Hill. l went into
this drhu with eight thousand hve
hundred muskets, about forty pieces OF
artillery and about twelve hundred cav
airv. which was guarding Luray Valley
lid not get up in time, though ordered
TO move 40 the same time L moved 70 the
attack. Sheridan's infantry had been
recruited fully up TO its strength at " IN
chester. and MS cavalry numbered eight
thousand seven hundred, as shown by
I the official reports captured. The main
4 cause why the route Of his army vas nos
cJmsIe.e was the fact that my cavalry
could not compete with his, and the lat
{ Ter, therefore, remained intact. he
claimed all his own guns that had been
/ captured in the morning and alterWa ard
( recaptured, as 20 many guns captured
from rle. whereas, l lost only twenty
three runs. and the loss Of these and
{ the wagons which were taken was mainly
owing 10 the fact thsta bridge, on q mar
{ row u7-t Of the road between Ceder Creek
and Fi-her's Hin, broke down, and the
I Guns and wagons, which latter were not
I numerous. could not he broughtotf. Pur-
. =pit was not made 70 Mount Jackson, as
s-ated bv both Grant aud Stanton, but
my tro5Gs were halted for the night az
I Friahe-'s Hill. three miles from Cedar
/ Greek. svd next day moved back TO New
lFsrt,at. six miles from Mount Jackson,
/ without any pursuit a. all. So far from
its being true, as stated by Mr.. Stanton,
that no force apppesred IN the valley
after this, the fact Is, that l reorgsnized
my force at New Market, ana on the
tenth of November moved down the
Valley again ana confronted Sberldan on
the eleventh and twelfth IN uont OF ms
lrtreuchments between Newtown ana
EearDstown and then retired back 10
Nev Market because provisions and for
ACE could not be obtained in the lower
Valley. The expeditions by which the
posts Of New Greek and Beverly were
subsequently, captured, were sent out also
from ms force III the Valley. The strong
force which Gen. Grant says was en-
-reucbed under me a. WGyuesbOTO, when
Sberi6sn advanced up the Valley in the
latter part OF February, eighteen hun
Grel snd sivtv-five, with two divisions
Of cavalry Of i've thousand EACH con-
sisted OF about one thousand infantry
ana a few pieces Of artillery, most Of my
infantry having been returned 70 Gen
T,ee TO meet corresponding detachments
FROM Sheridan 10 Grant, and all my cav
alrv and most af the artillery having
/ been sent OF on account OF the impossi-
billtv Of foraEing the horses ia the Val
lev. Obvious reasons Of policy prevented
any publication Of these facts during tns
= war. snd it viii be seen that was lead'
ing fyrlorn hope ell the time ana th'
public can appreciate the character O
: the victories won py SheIlGah over me
The statements I have made are from
facts coming within my own knowledge
and they are made TO show the disparity
between the Confederate armies anl
lbose OF the United States. l now asl
! which Eat retired from the contest viii
: more true glory, 1hat heroic band o
10 gcuFederaJes VINO so long wlthstood tn
D tremendous armies and resources OF IN
Z United States OF that "Grand Army O
i the Inion.n which, while being re
2 Z cruired fron cll the world, was enabiei
: Inv continuous hammeFiIg' 50 to eX
. ba,lst its ODDouents ''av mere atJrlJiOn
- 70 compel a surrender IN
> I world has never witnessed 50 grea
s polltical crime as that conmltte
? in the destruction Of tie Contede
rate Government by armed iorc5. Otha
. nations, IN ancient as well a. modeT
= tiraes. have fallen under the yoke OF "a
3 c0nqlerOr or usurper, eeeeuse tDelr oNI
. foliies. vices or crimes had prepared ID
= way for their sUljugauOn. Many leal
. hase been shed over the fate ef unnapp
4 Poland, but we caIpCt shut our ey e
Z the f.-ct thst the Poles had shown t-ei
= incauacltv 70 manage their own Govern
20 EleLL ca- A--~T H--~
y foreign rule. IN our case nov
Z ever, the civilized nations OF u
= earth have stood sl0of and seen
: brave ana paigi3tic peopie POLITICAL
: murdered, while 1aintaiuing an nnpr'
X cedented struggle for the right % se
e goverameu', and nanifestlng ~ ever
:, step their Capsely !1T u, al- lnls, 70
q when under an assumed neutrality q
< resources Of men, money and munitloi
= OF war, Of ticEs very nations were Dem
y freely n-ed to cons1Inate the Iaonstrol
. desS, snd thereby give the hnal blow
= q genuine republican government eve
= III the United States.
e on behalf of my down -uodden coo.
= try, make ths appeal to ia1se i,Alloi
: that they viii not commit the IufLneI y
Justice Of receiving the history OF tn
s struggle from the mouths and pens o. Q,
y enemies. bat that they shall wait UNI
= the time snail come fof piaeinS ~
= history before them. In the rleantlh
7, let al my couItrymen who were w
q condition 20 know the character qf y
~ coutest pot ln 3 tangible form, % De lf
n served Tor the use Of the future hlstofla
!. such .acts and materials for thar bistoi
"a as are IN their knowledge OF possession.
"A J. A. EARLY. Licut.-4ien. =. . A
~
-s SEs- Ten men were called for trial
x charges Of counterfeiting In the Unit'
"a States Court, in New YORK, a few da.
- age and net one Of them CpneQre
sEr ] NEezn Gnls. rod al srgr.ra Flsur.f1rra