Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1870-11-25
GRANTS IND LEES ARMIES


Nv attention has recently been drawn
10 un editorial article in The Standard ior
| Oct. 5, which was devoted to Gen. Robert
f Lee. have of no right and certainly
no desire, TO depreciatc the estimate put
by the Standard on the personal or the
military character of Gen. Lee but rs the
article in question contains several state
monts evidently based upon mlslnlorma-
ton, venture to ask that you will allow
me TO correct them in your columns.
have less hesitation in making this re-
quest. because my principle authority
for the proposed corrections is that OF
Gen. Lee himself.
All the original documents still in eN'
istence. which belonged to the southern
War Office are now in the possession oi
the United States Government: Tor very
soon after the capture OF Richmond, they
were. by the express directions OF Mr.
Jefferson Davis, surrendered by Gen. DO
scph f. Johnston to Gen. Sherman. As
Military and private Secretary to Gen
Grant from the time when ne took com
mand ofthe armies of tho United States
till he became president, | have had Tor
wears unrestricted access, not only to hI'
own official papers, bat to all these cap
turcd archives, and have had occasion
to study them more closely Than any llv'
ing man.
In the article OF the Standard to which
| refer i, Observation-Disclosures in good
C,ith. for the statcmeE, has been made be.
fore and in other quartcrs-that Gen. lee,
at the beginning OF the Wilderness can.
paien had but $1,000 men under his com
mand. while Gen. Grant had three times
4, many. The official documents do not
confirm this statement. The field return
of Lee, dated nearest the first battles OF
the Wilderness, is :hlt OF April 20, 1851;
this gives j3,S9l men present Ior duly
bat docs not lHCIHut t'' 9''N 80 W ''''7
streets corps. Now LongStrect joined
Lee after April 20, and prior to the battle
which occurred in the first week Of May.
Ills Gcld return OF date nearest the baltic
shows Is .357 present tor duty, making
- Us men nnder Lee At the battle OF the
wilderness. The whole force present i"l
duty under Grant, rs shown by his he'd
returns OF the same date rs Lees, wa5
9S.0l9, leaving prepondernce in iA''I
Of Grant Of about 25,00O men, or very
little more than one third.
The calculation that Grant had three
times rs many men as Lee has been o0-
taincd by omiumg Long,trcet's corps al
toqclher from the estimate, and hy Civ
ing only Lees iorcc present Tor du'y on
The Rapidan; while, in reckoning Grant
numbers. mol only the prcscu, for dg'l
are counted but those constituting NIa.,
in military parhnce, i, called The total.
which includes the sick, the extra duty
men. and various Others. invariably ~
mounting. in any large army, - many
thousands. MauifySliy, either Lees To-
tal should be compared with Grant total.
or Grant present lordaty should be conf
pared with Ices present Tor duty. bHt
bo,ides this. in order 10 make out Grants
army three times Il, larg - Lees s,Grhn,.s
Two forces iu the Valley Of Virginia and
ON the James river Coach ut least one nun
lrcd miles from the WildcrncsS)arc ncin-
dcd in The estimate of his strength; while
the troops which Lee had in front oi lhcsc
separate forces of Grants are lett out oil
the calculation altogether. repeat thai
in the battle of tho Wilderness, Lee had
about - 900 men engaged, while Grant
had 9S 900 present tor duty-according TO
the confidential field returns made at the
time bv each General to his own Govern
ment. when no General would intention
ally misstate or misiead.
Again it is stated in the Standard ar'I-
Gle Of the 9TH inst that Lee moved out ct
Richmond. after its fall. with 70, 600. His
last field return was made in February,
! 1868: i, is signed in his own hand, ana
gives 90. O9i present Tor duty, and 73,3i9
total. This does not include the local mi
! |i,ja of Richmond, nor the crews OF tho
ounboats on the James River, both OF
which forces were always put into the
trenches in an assault, and many ofwhom,
doubtless. moved out Of Richmond with
| Lee. Together they numbered at least
several thousands. In the battle of Five
forks and the subsequent assaults on
Petersburg, which resulted in the capture
OF Richmond, Lee may have lost 10000
men, but this would have LEFT him by any
computation 10000 troops with which he
fled from The fallen capital.
Once more, the article in question states
that 5000 men were surrendered by Lee
at Appomatox Court House. The official
record shows that q, ,4l6 soldiers were ac-
tualy paroled at that place, besides the
! tens of thousands also belonging to Lees
army, who came in aiterward and yielded
themselves prisoners of war. Each OF
these gave his separate written parole.
was present at the surrender orGcn. Lee.
The event took place in small room OF
what seemed an ordinary farmhouse, and
in the presence OF fewer than 20 persons