Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1866-03-16
Letter from Gen. Early.
Cry OF Mexico. Feb. 5, 18f

City OF MEXICO, Feb. D, 1860.
To the Editor of the New York Neacs:
I have just seen the letter of Major Gen
eraf Sheridan, of the United States Army,
to the New Orleans Crescent, dated the 9Th
of January, 1865, which was forwarded by
friend from Havana.
Isshan not handy epithets with General
Sheridan, and nothing but the fact that he is
an officer of the United States Army, in
high command, induces me to notice his let
ter. HIS status as gentleman can be east
~ determined by glance at that letter,
when it is recollected that | am an exile in a
foreign land, and that if I were to set my
foot within the limits over which his COM
mand extends, would, in all probability, be
Immediately arrested and consigned to mil
itary prison. Ny experience with him in the
Valley campaign had already satisfied me
that, as a military commander, he was a
mere pretender. His statements Of my loss
es in the Valley are simply preposterous.
The man who reported he defeated Hamp-
toms cavalry at Trevillian's depot on the
18th of June, 1864, and that his farther
progress was arrested by an infantry force
from Gordonsville, 'too strongly entrenched
to successfully assault, when there was
an infantry soldier in arms nearer that place
than with General Lees Army at Cold Har-
4 bor-who subsequently reported that he
drove my command through the gaps Of the
Blue Ridge after the battles of Winchester
and Fishers Hill-that he captured forty
eight pieces of artillery from me at Cedar
Creek, and that pursuit was made to Mount
jackson, is very capable of making or hav-
ing made any statements to suit his purpose
He has a fictitious reputation to sustain, and
his letter affords a criterion Of the means by
which it was gained.
My officers know the correctness of my
statements of our strenth in the Valley, and
it will be news, indeed, to them to hear that
10, 0OG prisontrs were captured from my
command, and that I lost, in killed and
wounded over Is, 831 men, between the 44tth
of August, 1864, and the LIST of March,
1865. It will equally astonish all my artil-
lery and ordnance officers to learn that 101
pieces Of artillery wore captured from me
between the Goth of August, 1864, and the
1st of January, 1865, especially when it is
recollected that General Sheridan's tcle-
graphic reports, made after capture, claimed
only II pieces captured during the time spe-
cited, to wit:
At Winchester, the 10Th of September,
1904. Observation-Disclosures. o
At Fishers Hill, the 23rd Of September,
/ 1854. ....................1l
At the the cavalry fight below Edin-
| burg, the 9th of October, 1864 .....11
At Cedar Creek, the 10Th of October,
1864. ......................... .4S
| At Cedarville, in the Cavalry fight be-
/ tween Powell and McCauseland, Nov.
| II, Observation-Disclosures. q
| Aggregate. ....".,......,......77
! OF those claimed as captured st Cedar
Creek, the greater part consisted Of guns,
which had been abandoned on the field by
his own troops, while my real loss was %
pieces, making ffty-two guns captured in
the time specified, if all the other claims
we're correct. The impartial reader will not
fail to notice the number Of guns marked
~. S." in the list given by General Sher-
idan, and the very few marked By 80 S."
His command may have captured | 400
prisoners at the time of the affair at Waynes-
boro' as, at that time, there were at Staun-
ton and elsewhere in the Valley, large
number Of recently exchanged prisoners, on
leave of absence from General Lees army,
who could not get transportation back, as the
few railroad trains we had were engaged III
removing stores.
IF my estimate Of General Sheridan s
strength was incorrect, he had the means Of
giving it with accuracy from his returns, and
as the official returns of my command were
captured at Waynesboro by his troops, he
ought to have the means of ascertaining my
strength at each one of these battles, without
resorting to dubious certificate from memo
by his Provost Marshall General, or GER
tificate of his killed and wounded by the
Chief Signal Officer Of the Middle Division
of the Gulf, OR the statement Of an ordnance
officer made in such form g as to preclude its
publication in the columns Of newspa-
per.
Sheridan's letter has furnished another ev-
idence Of the propriety Of my caution to all
fair minded men of other nations, to with
hold their judgments upon the reports Of our
enemies, until the truth can be placed before
them
Alas how sad must be the fate of my
poor country when such a man can have mil
itary sway over any part of it.
Respectfully
j. A. EARLY.
Rumored Attempts to Assasslnate Max
imillian.