Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1866-01-20

y y0r. 0t lI1 8eoIstarI Of IN.

y
from thc y, -. urr'JrHi.
The report of Gen. Gar aud Mr. Sian.
Ton may hc considered 10 ba Tho official his
tory 1T ,hc military events Of the last ycar
al the war In the report cf the Secretary
oi War there does ot seem To he any dis.
position lo lr injustice ~ tie Confederate
mili'ary hNAcrs or tn the soldiers who ~
bong - oh'linatcly aud - vNlmntly con-
tended with 'hc prcpo"teTai'ns resources
of the Federal Government gnt the over
Ghc,m,ug masses Ut The Fedora, armies,
TN The contrary, they ave often very high
IS COMMUNICATED for their skill aud courage,
trraaps The sentiment most strongly nroas-
81 D., pcruSal of this report is that Of
wonder, not so mu'h at the magnitude of
The res uls achieved ar NJ the extent and
Importance of The operations described %,
NJ The amazing cShhi' Of military strength
aud resources on the part OF tao Federal
iuycrnmcnt We had become used 10 dCs-
c,iplirus at battles aud s,gc', Victories
aud defeats the rolriug OF clauon he
charging OF la unllions and the flight OF
broken columns, but Tor some reason or
another We never cease to he wondcr-srick-
cn ut those long lists Of figures which in
get in the field for the preservation of the
Union aud the conquest Of the South
In the Spring Of 1864, the Federal forces
amounted to 80, 40 mon. or this number
Gi2,3i5 were present with their colors, and
1T for duty. Gen. Sherman advanced
against johnson with 0SGnD men, and Gen.
Grant crossed the Rapidan with 100000.
The other Federal forces in Virginia and
North Carolina Amounted to cocoon, cxclu-
sivc nf 3),unA in West Virginia. Thus
lSOOOO men were operating against Rich
moud. wilhstanding the immense loss
~ of the memorable campaigns of 1861,
the blooiicst ot the war, embracing the de-
icats Of Gen. Banks, OH Red River, and the
sanguinGry rcpulscs Of Grants army in tho
memorable march from the Rapidan to
the James, as wcll rs Shcrmans obstinate
and bloody struggles with Johnson and
Hood, we find that on the first of March
1860, the Federal armies numbered 06j,53l
mcn, OF whom GO2 j9S were fit for duty.
Thus the immense hosts at the disposal of
the United States Government seemed to
have never diminished, either by the act,l-
al losses of battle, which were sometimes
enormous, or by the wear and tear OF cam
paigniay which, in the long run, is even
more cxhaus;ing that the immediate battle
field.
When the war closed Gen. Shcrmans ar
my numbered 10, lS3 men, and Gen. Grants
l62, Sjl-cach being considerably larger
than ut the opening of the campaign of
i2JI.-And yet during that year of battle,
&rant's army had lost over one hundred
thousand men by the casualties Of the field
alone, and Shcrman's had lost about seven
ty thousand from the same causes. II we
add in the reductions by disease, dcscrton
AMI various other causes probably the to-
tai would equal the figures representing
the original strength of the two armies.
Thus, without achievements, those two
great hosts would have melted away to the
Inst man; yet they were stronger at the
end of the year than at the beginning.
The following table shows the strength Of
the various Confederate armies at the time
of the capiulalion:
Army Of Northern Virginia, commanded
by Gen. II. L. Lee. ...................27,S 800
Army of Tennessee and others, commanded
by j. +. johnson ......................3l,24 3
Gen. jeff. Thomson sarmy of Missouri..1,01S
Miscellaneous paroles, department of Vir-
GINA ......., ................ ............?,U
rarolcd at Cumberland, Nd, and other
stations......... .....................".9,U .i
pnrolcd by Gen. McCook in Alabama and
Florida, ...".................b,f 10
Army of The Department Of Alabama, Lieut..
Gen. X. Tay ........................".42,2 i3
Army of the Trans Mississippi Department,
Gen. Z. X. Smith go. ..................l76SG
Parolcd in the Department CT Washing