The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1872-03-22
ANECDOTES OF OUR eENERALs.

The war developed no one
compare with Sherman-eve
9 Stonewall Jackson was his inferiC
:. but the one most worthy to
compared to him was Gen. Ofms
= by X. Mitchell. Mitchell, we lear
from his memoirs, was quick, neI
y vous, restless, like Sherman, bu
it is not likely he could grasp sub
: jects as large or execute plans .
extensive rs could the latter. Bot
were loose in their discipline
g MitchelPs division, we learn, wa
at once the glory and disgrace o
BuelPs army. His meE COMMITTED
more excuses and did more hari
and rapid marching than those o.
any other division In that command
and were not inferior in battle
, though they never fought much nm.
der Mithell, for, like Sherman, be
avoided and rendered battles an.
necessary by rapid strategic move
. ments. During three years or ae-
i tive service, General Mitchell, sing.
uarIy enough, never saw the enemy
In force. It Was not until his di-
vision was transferred, in 1862, to
4 Gen. Rosseau, that "Mitchell's men, .
as they were known, saw their first
battle at Perryville, Kentucky, when
they fought, it is said, as well As
they fOraged. But before this, when
under Mitchell, they made the bill
liant campaign in North Alabama,
which was never surpassed for dar.
ing, they had learned to obey the
rule, literally, to live on theenemyB
country. Il t.
! But IN splteef AIltchelIs loose en-
forcement of discipline, he WAS very
exact in his ideas of it, and would
have had very perfect command
had ne possessed the executive
power, as well as he knew the the
DRY. r-1sl-
He wanted his command perfect,
but did not know. how to go at It
properly. i
He took it into his head one day
while at Huntsville, that he would
improve the habits of his men with
regard to reveille, and, a. the first
thing, he determined that through
out the whole camp the reVeille
should be sounded at once. A gen.
eral order to that effect, ordering
reveiile to besounded at EXACTLY 6 |
O'Clock wouldn't work, for the rea-
son that no two officers had the
same time. Mitchell then hit on
another plan. He summoned q |
Capt. Egerton, who commanded |
one of his batteries, and directed |
him to fire gun at 8 precisely, and |
then issued another order to the |
reglmental commanders to sound |
the reVeille when they heard that |
gun. Mitchell had his watch care |
fnlly. set to agree with Egerton's.
The next morning Egerton was
aroused by his orderly little be-
fore the hour, and ordered his lieu
tenant to have the gun manned.
He had failed, however, to catch the
spirit of MitchelPs order, and min
ute or two before six o'clock order
ed the gun to be fired. Five MIN
utes later enc of Mitchell's aida gall
loped up and informed him that he
"had fired the gun q minute and q
half too soon, and the general was
much dissatisfied" Egerton apollo
gised by saying che thought It was
near enough for practical purposes"
"Near enough" wouldn't suit Mitch~
ell, and he arranged that he himself
would give the signal by dropping
a handkerchief.
Exactly at O'Clock the next
the signal fell, the gun
belched forth its thunders. and
throughout the camp with admira-
bic prOmptness the drums were rat
Ting their calls, sending their ech-
oes unsteady to the hills, while the
clear notes of the martial bngle sent
forth its inspiring strains DER wood
and valley, and for a moment or
two the camps resonnded with the
old familiar tones that have SO often
awakened every comrade from his
happy dresms OF home to the stern
realities of military life.
Mitchell was delighted. t:Beauti-
full, Captain. beautiful" he cried in
his enthusiastic manner; ssthats the
way to do it /; well have it SO every
be prompt to q minute
sir, I've been used to calculating to
the tenth of second"
And SO ne had, when, before the
war, Mitchell was a professor Of as
trOnomy.
The instance just related of Mitch
ellis exactness is perhaps equalled
by an anecdote related in connec-
ton with Gen. Steedman.
When Sherman moved on Attain
ia in 1861, Gen. James B. Steedmani
was left In the rear at CHATTANOOGA
to protect the trains and railroads.
Among his subordinate officers was
q Col. LaibOld, of Missouri, who
commanded the garrison at Dalton.
One day, the CoIoneps troops cap
tured rebel citizen engaged in the
work of tearing up the railroad
with the prtriotic an pFaiseworthy
of throwing . passenger
train from the track. He was taken
to headquarters and examined Col.
Laibold, on hearing the statements
of the men who had captured him,
the facts to Gen. Steed-
man, and requested to know his in
Steedman telegraphed
back, "to try the man, and if he was
found guilty, to hang him." Know
ing, however, that Laibold had no
to organize court mar
tial, Steedman made out an order
for the court, leaving the detail
blank to be filled in by Laibold
from his own officers, and dispatch
ed it by special messenger to Dali
ton, 80 miles distant. It was three
hours when the order reached Col.
Laibold. He opened his eyes in as
when he read it. When
he had somewhat recovered from
his surprise he sent Steedman's mes
senger back with his apologies, cay
ing: "Tel de General ish very
sorry, but de dam rascal has been
dead dis hour and a half"
LSibold was never called upon to
account for the irreguIarity Of the
proceedings of his court, nor was
there ever any complaint of the |
laws delay in this case.-Grand |
Army Journal.
A BRIEF CHAPTER ON TIE Bic JUDGE. |