The star of Pascagoula. [volume] (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1873-1878, 1874-06-20

A Sensible Article

hhHN him ~ ~ ono Vi tftnfe most Ra
ltat soI,Iisgs Of tho var
Some limo ago, whils Oenar,
sfaston Bragg was IN st Louis o
a yisil 10 bic relatives their. q 0lo,
reporter interviewed bim 10 felaao
10 She battle Of Cblokamanga. r
answer 70 enquiry as 10 tho forco b
had on That occasion, Gen. Rfsgg stal
ed That he went into the Gght at III,
head Of 10000 men. This state
ment seems TO have stirred the Vii,
OF m anonymous patriot in Ohio
who writes 10 tho Cincinnati Com
feercial TO say that no was taken
prisoner at Cbicamauga. and tbal
from OBJ ervations he mado when ht
was taken TO the rear OF tho Con
fedcrate position, hc "is satisfied that
Bragg had 10000 men," am
aware Of the peculiar effect a charge
rsaally has Of magnifying the proper.
tions OF charging column in the
eyes OF the troops charged. When
Pickett and Anderson were "gliding
mp the slope" at Gettsburg, / don't
suppose there was batteryman in
any Of the four batteries that we're
massed in the Federal center, who
would not have sworn that every
man in the charging column was sew,
en- feet six inches high, SO help him
God, and that there were forty thou.
sand men in the Two advancing divia>
ions.
"But the Imagination of an excited
artilleryman is not generally consid-
ered valuable as a source of histori,
cal truth. And it will not be con-
sidered violent assumption, l hope,
if it is suggested that the frame of
mind of our OHIO patriot who writes
to the Commercial, was such when
he was taken to the rear prisoner,
that his Imagination instantly multi
piled by three everything he saw in
Confederate shape. A case in point:
When we crossed Nine run ten years
ago next Tuesday, and attacked Lee
in the Wilderness, our reports, official
and journalistic, made the Cenfeder-
ate strength all the way from no.
900 to 100000. according to the ter
pidation of the writer. But Lees
official statements, based on the
morning reports Of his sargeants
major, made his force on the first Of
May, $4,000 men. and this included
Fitzhugh Lees and Pierce Young's |
Of cavalry.
1t is pretty late ia the day for any |
'ellow to make his appearance with
IN assertion to the effect that the
Federal forces were outnumbered' by |
he Confederate in any important
battle of the war subsequent to Shi-
oh and Gaines mill. 1t Is conced- |
ID that Albert Sydney Johnson had
more men at Shiloh that Grant had,
md that Lees force at Gaines mill |
Summers corps, which |
the fight on our side.
Aside FROM these two instances, the |
disparity was always the other way,
md it is little short of the ridiculous |
or any one at this date to fly in the |
orce of official history with an as
sertion to the contrary. The Con-
'ederacy is gone, and its bones have
been picked white and clean by those |
Who kept suffers shops during the |
war and came carpet-bagging to
Congress after it was over.
The least that we can do now is
% give the Sighting Confederates
'ull credit for what hey accomplish
ID on the fold by admitting the dis.
advantages under which the strug-
gled. And it is not even magnani-
nous, but simply fair, to say now that
they fought as men never fought be-
ore, and against such odds OF num-
oers, armament, equipment and sup
sly resources as were never before
against a luckless foe. Re-
iile their failures, il you will, but do |
aot add to il the insulting untruth
hat they yielded to inferior numbers.
When the time tor telling the whole
ruth comes, it will appear ia history
hat the world never saw sixty three
thousand soldiers who could have
stood against the army that Lee
headed in the Wilderness. ten years
'go to-day"
OLD REGULAR.
Patience is flower that grows nos in
syery ones garden.