New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-01-02
Stories of tho War.

/ StOEAcS u tho " 6Ts
| The battle of Waterloo was fought up
ward of sixty years ago, but almost ever.
week come new anecdOte is put in print t.
illustrate some of it's peculiar features.
believe the general proposition is cOrrec
that the reading public are interested in al
the details of war, and that the appetite fol
/ information on this subject is one that j.
not easily satisfied Volumes have beer
printed, in and out of the newspapers
since the close of our great civil war re
lating to it; but almost every day bring!
forth something new, and everything tina
is writ en- about it bearing the stamp of ex
perience is eagerly read. In fact, the fur
Their we are removed by time from the im
| preseive incidents of the great struggle. thu
stronger is the fascination which th0ir re
| hearsal has for the people. Something Of
| the mist of time is creeping between US anG
the fields of the rebellion, aud it seems Il
remove them somewhat from the scenes
and events Of this generation. and to give
| them coloring like that of romance. And
then, the real history Of the war has not YET
been written. 1t is yet to be compiled and
woven from the materials now in existence
and from those which blossom out almos,
daily in the columns of the press. 1t there
fore becomes the duty of all the participa
tors in the war who have any "reminiscences
of interest relating t04it, to make them
public. It is in this spirit that the follow
ing chapter of miscellaneous aaecdote is
contributed:
The poem of T. Buchanan Read, the art
of the engraver, and the popular history Of
the battle, have joined in making Sheridan
the chevalier hero of the war, on account Of
the dashing episode at Cedar Creek, when
he retrieved the shattered fortunes Of
the day and converted defeat into victory.
Yet it has been doubted, is doubted, by
thousands who have read everything that
has been written relating to this battle.
whether Sheridan is entitled to the great
credit of retrieving the fortunes of the day,
and whether the result would not really
have been about the same had he not ap.
peared upon the field at all.
do not mean in these few paragraphs to
20 into any description of the battle or to
justify my conclusions by any minute state
ments Of facts. But belive the following
general summary will be substantially
4greed to by every soldier of the Union
army who was present and in position to
make q fair observation. The Eighth Corps
and Kitching's Provisional Division had
been routed; the Ninteenth and Sixth Corps
aud northerly toward Middletown. The
two latter corps had preserved good line
the whole morning, had fought stubbornly,
had fallen back slowly, and had really
checked the ardor of the enemy's onset.
Between twelve and one o'clock there was
Q lull in the fight. At that time the Sixth
and Nineteenth Corps were in line 1t right
angles with the pike" lee this great high
way is called), and the Confederates were
behind the intervening woods, making their
for another attack. This At
tack was in fact made after Sheridan had
arrived, and was easily repulaed by the
Corps. But the important ques-
ton will always be asked, what would have
been the history of the afternoon had Sheri-
dan remained away from the field!
In my opinion, neither side would have
attempted the offensive. The at
tack OF the COnfederates just referred to
was q weak affair and showed that they
were practically demoralized by their sue
cess and by the heavy fighting OF the morn
ing. The battle had opened with a ire
mendous, almost an overwhelming success
severe losses inflicted upon them, we had
nearly e4ualized the chances. Yet we had
lost very heavily; we had been driven four
miles from our camps, and the prestige of
the day was entirely against Us. believe
that the opinions of nine tenths of our
Union soldiers present would have been cor.
rectly expressed thus: I'VE can hold this
line, with the cavalry on our right, against
the rebel army; but it is folly to think of
Recovering OuI Caupe ouu OuE AOoG SEOuuu.
We have been too badly whipped for that.
We will hold this line tonight and be ready
for q new battle tomorrow, but we haven't
any faith in our ability to make success
full forward movement"
And yet, coming upon the ground at such
. time, and with such q spirit prevailing,
Sheridan actually infused the magnetism Of
his presence and his certainty as to the re-
suit of the battle into this army, beaten and
on the defensive as i. was, though
not routed. His words, his presence, his
whole appearance, were so inepiriting that
We we're all willing to believe it possible to
regain all that had been lost before night.
| thoroughly believe that but for his pres
ence there would have been no forward
OF the Union army that after
noon, and that the question would have
been doubt gul one whether the next morn
ing would have Witnessed q renewal of the
battle on til. line or q continuance of our
retreat toward Harper's Ferry.
During tho few days prior to the battle,
the soldiers Of the New York regiments,
and those Of other States the laws Of which
allowed their soldiers in the field to vote by
busy preparing their ballots to send home
BY the first mail for use at the polls. Each
ballot was inclosed in q long yellow en-
velope, contai ming the other papers neces-
,ary to verify the voter, and each soldier
had one in his knapsack. Hundreds of our
poor fellows we're slain in the first bloody
onset of that morning, and, as their effects
we're plumber d by the victors, these en-
vel0pes and lallots were scattered all over
of the rebels. "What are thesew
hey eagerly inquired of the prisoners; and
Upon being informed, their next question
was, "Who are you voting for?' Four
ifths of the answers were, ''FOr Lincoln"
A unanimous protest followed this declara-
ion. "No, no-dOn't vote fol Lincol7."
was the cry. "Vote for Mcclellan; he'll
md the war" And it was remarked on all |
sides by our soldiers who returned from
captivity in this battle, that the declara-
ions of the rebel soldiers conceded exactly
With those of the Chicago platform on which |
was supposed to stand.
had often seen the horrors of war ex-
,mpliied in the plumber of the dead, before
his battle: but never 80 thoroughly nor 80
as here. When we fell back in
the morning, the hills between the pike"
and the little stream which flows into Cedar |
creek we're dotted thickly with our brave
fellows who had fallen, musket in hand, at |
The first collision. Upon reoccupying our
had been stripped to the undercl0thiug.
The ensuing night was bitterly cold, with a
heavy black frost, and the sufferings of our
wounded before they could be relieved were
dreadful. 1t can only be said in extenua.
lion of such barbarity that the rebels were
very poorly clad, and wanted the garments |
10 put on themselves.
The efficacy Of the "sign of the mystic |
lie" was never better illustrated than by an
Incident that occurred on the field that |
which was related to me at Har-
per's Ferry four months after by the chief |
actor in it, captain in New Hampshire |
regiment, who had then just been ex-
before daylight, and was too badly hurt to |
De taken from the field. The first lines of |
he Confederatee swept past him in the pur.