New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-05-07
..LEE AT GRTTYsBURG.n
What Genera, fitzpatrick Saw.

burg battles. Both Custer and Farnsworth
were officers on General Pleasonton's stat
the day previous to their promotion to the
command of a brigade and they were both
| gallant officers.
An attache of the REPUBLICAN, then a
war correspondent of the New York Heratd,
was with Fitzpatrick at Hanover, when his
division fought the first battle and won the
| first victory on the free soil of the North,
completely routing Stuart's cavalry.
| General Farnsworth was killed In the
| last days battle at Gettysburg.
General Kilpatrick's description of the
fearful ride at night in pursuit of the rebel
train is wildly correct, so far as the then
correspondent of the Herald can testify from
his own personal knowledge; but that
knowledge was limited by halt at Mon
terey Springs, at two o'clock in the morning,
and capture at five by North Carolina
brigade under command of the rebel Gen
eral Iverson.
General Fitzpatrick has recently become
associated in the publication of a New Jer-
sey monthly under the name of Our Maya
=ine and the following, written by him, is
copied from it:
In the April number of the GALAXY an ar
ticle appeared entitled Lice at Gettysburg"
written by General Imboden, of the late
Confederate army, which, ON account Of its
source has attracted much attention espe-
cially among military men. During the war
the writer found time to take very complete
notes of what TRANSFERRED under his own OBJ
servation, of the various army movements
in which he participated. and of the men
who played leading parts in the great drama
Of the rebellion.
After reading General Imboden's article
in the GALAXY was SO struck with its mani
fest injustice to our cavalry, to say nothing
of the false impression it is calculated to
give of the real cause of Lees great disas-
ter at Gettysburg, that determined to give
to the public some recOllections of that i'm
portant and decisive campaign; and in do
ing so l beg leave to say to the readers of
Oar Magazine, that in simple justice | have
a right to speak for the old Third Cavalry
Division, who fought the first battle and
won the first victory on the free soil of the
North, at Hanover, Pennsylvania, and
struck Lees shattered army the last blow
at Williamsport and Falling Waters as it
fled, wrecked and ruined, across the Poto-
mac, over which it had so proudly marched
a short two weeks before.
General Imboden, of course. writes about
what he remembers of that campaign, and
boldly draws conclusions without taking
into consideration any of the many great
difficulties which the Union cavalry met and
overcame in the sixteen days of battles and
marches from Aldie to Hanover and from
Hanover to Falling Waters.
The opinion long prevailed, and even now
is widely entertained, that the battle Fields
of the rebellion were never fair tests of the
relative daring, ability, energy and forti-
rebel armies were defeated by numbers
alone, and that brute force, and not true
bravery, crushed the Southern cause. There
never was a greater mistake; there never
was more injustice done gallant people;
and since Confederate generals have laid
aside the sword from necessity, and have
now taken up the pen, it is proper that
these erroneous impressions should be sub
iected to the test OF actual historical facts.
Certainly it cannot be claimed that in the
campaign the prepOnderance of
numbers was on the side of the Union |
army.
Since the death of the confederate chief. |
General Lee, his friends have spared no
pains to immortalize his name, and convince |
the world that he was a great general. |
With this object in view, General ImbOden |
~, |
and while | would not detract feathers |
weight from the just fame of any soldier, |
federal or confederate, yet submit to Gen |
eral ImbOden that it would have been bet |
ter for his purpose, and added more to the |
tame of Lee, if he had written his recOI- |
ections of some one of Lees defensive bat |
ties or campaigns, in which alone he was
great General Lee was unfortunate in all |
MS great advance movements, and always /
Il, 1.
battle. In 1862, after McClellan's |
'etreat from in front of Richmond, Lee
quickly started nOrthward, thinking to
rush Pope and Mcdowell before McClel- |
ans troops could be brought up from the |
Peninsula. Jackson had already fought the
,attle of Cedar Mountain and returned
across the Rapidan, when Lee joined him,
md rapidly advancing northward, under
over of lofty mountain ranges, through
,ur earelessness,. ignorance, or utter in
Inference, was enabled to debO,tch through
and Ashby's Gaps, and get
nto position on the hills beyond before
Generals Pope and Mcdowell were ready
o meet him; and yet he preferred to re-
eive rather than give battle. Winning the
ight next day, almost without struggle,
he quickly moved on, crossed the Potomac,
md, just beyond, gave battle; and although
lis army was fresh from recent victories,
|
lriven with heavy loss back across the Po-
Omac by the rallied fragments of the Army
# the Potomac, led by Mcclellan. And
lis last grand offensive campaign, culmi-
Eating in disaster and ruin to his army and
he confederacy at Gettysburg, even con-
-inced him, if it did not his historians, that
e could not plan and successfully carry
ut an offensive campaign.
Gettysburg was the direct result of
no oil 70 v,ntr |
lily SO understood. Hooker's disastrous
etreat, with vastly superior force, from
is own chosen position at Charlottesville,
Inspired Lee with contempt for Hooker and
ur army, and led him to believe that the
Irmy of the Potomac would be but a slight
bstacle to a march upon Washington, Bal
imore, and possibly the cities further
'orth. In fact Lee contemplated just such
march through the North as Sherman
made through Georgia and the
,arolmas; and there can be no doubt that
e intended to plant bis standard over the
ity of New York, and dictate terms to the
eOple of the North. Inspired with this
ope, Longstreets splendid corps was
rought up from Suffolk, and added to
,ees army, swelling it to about 10000 men.
With this great army, flushed with recent
ictory, Lee struck his tents and started
pom his last great offensive campaign.
Witty marching through Cuipepper he
rossed the Blue Ridge Mountains, and
lassed in the valley beyond. Then send
lg his cavalry under Stuart, Hampton and
'itz Lee, through Ashby's Gap, as feint
n Washington, aud to delay the Army of
ne Potomac, the heavy columns again
loved out in a rapid march for the upper
,rds of the Potomac.
Ewells corps, far in advance, soon
cached Pennsylvania, and on the twenty, | ,
,urth of June the two corps Of Hill and
ON nstreet Reached Eanerstnwn Tins liz |