The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1871-11-16

1ou8nt hlm rom oSy'pfoex until leto In the
held our position. We continued 70 hold II
the whole OF the next day, and Mcclellan did
not dare to attack ne. .Sps, .sss,4
mate oi assef. s 's afny rsi1ss se.d 'ia bis
IAN sstim.so Of the forces, under nj the Con-
fedsrate denarsi Lee, made; mp BY direction
by the examination OF prisoners, ydesertsrp.
.piss, TO-, previous to the battle Ct Antietsm,
1s All follows: Gen: T. J. Jaokson's corps.
2,778; Gen. James LonRstr pet oorps, q, ,S42;
J. E. B. Stewards cavalry. 9, 400. Gen. Ran,
CONS and Jenkins brig ades, 8, 900; forty y-six
regimenta not included in above, 18. 400; artil-
lsry n estimatea at 400 gdus, .oO; total. 7,4ao
men present and at for duty" -s-'.'' 80 =
You mqet reoollect that Mcclellan WAS con-
sidered the gentleman among the Federal or
OF tho force opposed to him at Sharpsburg
There was rumor that Banks was Jsokson's
commissary, and suppose Mcclellan thought
the oommiAsary ought to know the strength
not with Mcclellan at Sharpsburg, aud this
estimate Of his. presume, WAS made while
Jnokson was figuring in Pope's rear, and
Banks was one OF the corps commanders of
the latter. Some allowance, therefore, must
be made for him, as he always saw with worry
largely magnifying glasses when ''5tonewail
jackson" was about.
1uoTe are SUMO CURIOUS TCueCtlonS WnlCn
suggest themselves in connection with ME-
Clellan's statement OF his own forces. It
must DO remembered that the troops under
McOlellan's command on the Potomac, and
March, 1862. numbered over 10000 for duty;
the Ninth Corps, tBurnside's,) numbering
over Is, 600 at sharpsburg. had heen brought
from North and South Carolina; Fremont'-
command from Northwestern Virginia, and
some troops under Siegel, from Missouri had
slso arrived since the 1st Of March; and very
recently some troops had come from the
West, under Cox, besides the recruits from
new levieB that had been received. What had
reduced that immense force to 81. .164 men, on
the 18th Of september, 1862? How was it
the weak ''rebel" government at Richmond
had been len enabled TO invade the hs oea eanemys
while the strong, patriotic government at
Washington had been able to rally, from all
the "loyal" North and North-west, to pre-
serve "the best government the world ever
saw" to defend the national capital, aud to
protect the loyal States against the ''rebel''
hordes by which they were threatened, only
little over 81, 600 men2 This is a little curl
GUS, il it not?
You may think it little strange that Gen.
Lee had le- than 80. 900 mon ut Sharpsburg
The whole force for duty in the Department
OF Northern Virginia, at the close OF July
port ,ow ON file in the Archivo Office at
Was - ton. copy from q statement from
the resorts given by Northern WHITEHALL
Confederates being denied ACCESS to them.
Some troops had to be left at Richmond, at
Drury's and Chaf1u's Bluffs. and at other
points-and one army hs d not been reinforced
to any material extent-G00 900 men, inclusive
Of D. H. Hills and McLaws' divisions, were
the utmost that could be carried into the
field. There had been tho battle Of Cedar
Run, the fighting en- the Rapidan, the series
OF battles ut Second Manassas, OK Hill, Har-
per's Ferry and South Mountain-all without
any reinforoements. OF course, considerable
losses had been sustained in all these battles;
but, iE addition to that, there was heavy
falling off from struggling caused by utter
exhaustion.
Our army had been marching and lighting
almost continually since the battle Of Cedar
Run. The men were badly clothed and worse
shod-our rattons had given out at second
Manaseaa-in fact, some OF the troops OF
Longstreet'. corps came 60 that battle with
ont ratione. From that time until We got int
Maryland our men had to live principally on
fresh beef and green corn, without salt or
bread. That diet is better than none, by a
good denl, but it is q very weakening one TO
march and fight on-As some OF you, perhaps
know. The consequence OF all this was that
before we crossed the Potomac many Of our
ion and sore feet, while many had struggled
Off for food. The loss from these causes was
very heavy, and you can understand how less
than GO. 600 men could very easily be reduced
to less than Sc, 600, III q campaign OF six weeks,
in which many bloody battles had been fought
against very large odds. To show that am
not out of the way in my estimate. I will state
that tho same reports from which 1 have
quoted show only SO 609 men for duty in the
whole department at the close Of September
after the stragglers had all come up and many
convalesoents had returned to duty. You
must reooleot that the troops under McClel-
Ian and Pope numbered, on the 9th OF August
1862, according to Halleck's statement, 1S0 600
for duty; that Burnside had brought over
Is, 900; that Oox's division had come from the
West since that time, and, besides, there were
the recruits and reinforcements received at
Washington. II all that force had been re.
duced to 87,164, when it WAS 30 we'll clothed,
shod and fed, it was not uureasona hle that
there should be . falling of OF $4,000 in Gen
Lees army, from the casualties OF battle and
the other causes mentioned. Gen. Lee, in his
report, said his strength was under 40 900,
but for obvious reasons he never disclosed his
weakness at any time. notwithstanding it's
smalln0ss, our little army accomplished won
ders at Sharpeburg. Mcclellan, in giving the
reasons why he WAS not ablo to renew the
battle on the 18th, in his report, eays:
"One division Of Summers corps, and all of
Hooker's corps, on the right, had, after fight.
ing most 7:l;=n:ly &c. ss-er.! hours, Been
overpowered by Numbers, driven in great dis.
order and much scattered, 80 that they were,
for the time, somewhat demorslized."
To chow how they were overpowered by
numbers, let me tell you that, in the morning,