Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1867-02-22

dHu w dSLltlEtOu WcIc d1 tAio e1An0 i"'soo II
of heavy artillery regiments hundred-days
men, and detachments from the invalid corps,
And, in regard to the force Of Wallace at
Monocacy, be says: His force was not suf-
icient to insure success. but he fought the en-
envy nevertheless, and although it resulted
in defeat to our arms, yet it detained the en-
envy and thereby served to enable General
Wright to reach Washington with two divis-
ions of the Sixth corps, and the advance Of
the Nineteenth corps, before him" Stan
ton says in his report: :" Here Cat Wash
ington) they (we) were met by troops from
the Army of the Potomac, consisting Of the
Sixth corps, under General Wright; part
Of the Eighth corps, under General Gilmore,
and part of the Nineteenth corps. just ar
rived from New Orleans, under General EN-
ory."
Taking Grants statement Of the troops
which had arrived from his army as the most
reliable, they were sufficient to hold the
works against my troops, at least until 9th
ers could arrive. But, in addition to those
which had already arrived, there were the
detachments from the invalid corps, called,
believe, the " Veteran Reserves" (of which
was informed, there were about five thou
sand ,)the heavy artillery regiments, the hun
dred days men, and, suppose, the part of
the Eigth corps mentioned by Stanton. To
all these may be added the local troops, or
militia, and the Government employees
Some of the Northern papers stated that be-
tween Saturday and Monday I could have
entered the city; but Saturday [ was fight
ing at Monocacy, thirty-fve miles from
Washington, force which | could not leave
in my rear and after disposing of that force.
and moving as rapidly as it was possible for
me to move, I did not arrive in front of the
Notifications until afternoon on Monday, and
then my troops were exhausted, and it re-
quired time to bring them up into line. |
had then made march, over the circuitous
route by Charlottesville, Lynchburg, and Sa-
lem, down the Valley, and the passes of the
South Mountain, which, notwithstanding the
delays in dealing with Hunters, SigePs, and
Wallace's forces, is, for its length and rapid
ity. l believe without parallel in this or any
other modern war-the unopposed maraud-
ing excursion of the freebooter Sherman
through Georgia not excepted. My small
force had been thrown up to the very walls
of the Federal Capital, north Of a river which
could not not be forded at any point within
forty miles, and with heavy force and the
South Mountain in my rear, the passes thro'
which mountain could be held by small
number Of troops.
A glance at the map, when it is recollec-
ted that the Potomac Isl wide river, and
navigab]e to Washington for the largest YES
sels,r will cause the intelligent reader to Won
der not why failed to take Washington,
but why had the audacity to approach it as
| did, with the small force under my COM
mand. It was supposed by some, who were
not informed of the facts, that delayed in
the Lower Valley longer than was necessary ;
but an examination of the foregoing narrative
will show that not one moment was spent in
idleness, but that every one was employed in
making some arrangement. or removing some
difficulty in my way, which it was necessary
to make or remove, SO as to enable me to ad-
vance with a prospect Of success.