The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1877-12-28

Referring to my Meade Memorial Ad-
| dress it will be seen that stated the
strength of the Army of the Potomac at
| Gettysburg to be "about 10000 infantry,
| 10000 cavalry, and 800 guns.' Through
the courtesy of General Townsend, Adju-
tant General United States Army, have
now before me the full returns of that army
on the goth of June, 1868, the last return
made previous to the battle, and / find
that the aggregate Officers and enlisted
men) of infantry present for duty, equip
ped, was II, ,764; that the artillery, includ-
ing the reserve, consisted of 369 guns, and
and that the aggregate Of cavalry was 10,-
1872. Before the army reached Gettysburg
the numbers of some of the divisions, mine
among them, were reduced by sickness and
struggling, caused by severe marching.
Some force was left to guard the
trains in the rear, and only part of
cavalry was present. So far I have been
able to learn, no material reinforcements
joined the Army of the Potomac before the
battle. It is time that the erroneous ideas
almost universally held concerning the
fighting numbers of the Army of the Po-
tomac in its operations and battles should
be corrected. In some instances the reports
of tbe generals commanding that army have,
unintentionally, led to these errors. The
source of it is this: In every European
and other army except our own the team
sters and others of the Quartermaster's
Department, of the Subsistence Depart
ment and of the Medical Department., form
no part of the reported strength of the
army; but in our armies during the war all
of these men were detailed for duty in
those Departments from the enlisted
men of the regiments serving with the
army, and formed no part of the "returns ;"
of the army. Previous to 1868 there were
reported among the "present for duty"
as though they were part of the fighting
force, but in 1868 and afterward they were
separated from the present for duty"
and reported in column under the head of
"present on special, extra or detail duty"
There is an example of the manner in which
the number of men in the ranks of the
army was magnifed by the "returns = of
1862, ON page II Of the report of General
Mcclellan of his campaigns in 1861 and
1862, Elk. Doc. No. is, Thirty-Eighth Con-
gress, first session, House of Representa-
tiYes, where he gives tabular statement
of the strength of the Army of the Po-
tomac" at different Leriods. On the goth
Of June, 1862. the aggregate number given
as "present for duty" is 105, 1925. But
that number must have included some
1000 or is, 600 extra duty officers and men
who were not in the ranks at all. AS just
stated this making the "returns of the
Of the "present" was still represented to
be the fighting force by many who should
have known better. On the "returns y of
the Army of the Potomac of the goth OF
June, 1868, there are 8, 377 officers and en-
listed men reported "present on special,
extra or detail duty who were with the
trains in the rear. These extra duty men
are not included in the numbers have
given at any time as the strength of the
Army of the Potomac, or, so far as L am
aware of, the strength of the Army of
Northern Virginia. They are not counted
as the strength of any European army.
Another source from which the numbers of
the present with the Army of the Potomac
were swelled by non-combatants was the
s'slck." On the 29th of June, 1868, there
were present with it, IN the field hospitals,
3.525 sick officers and men.
THE ARMY IN THE WILDERNESS.
Iu my Memorial Address l stated that
when the campaign Of 1864 opened the
strength of the Army of the Potomac was
as follows, viz: "76,000 infantry in the
three corps commanded by Sedgwick, Han
cock and Warren and about II, 900 cavalry
commanded by Sheridan, with large ar
tillery force, having it's own guard, which,
when the artillery was reduced (about the
middle of May) was Joined to one of the
infantry corps. Burnside had some 10, OOo
or 20, 900 men, which united with the army
of the Potomac early on the morning OF
the 9th of May, the second day of the bat
tie of the Wilderness Referring to the
full returns in the Office of the Adjutant
General of the Army, find that the in
fantry of the three corps "present for
duty" aggregated Officers and enlisted
mem 73, a29, and present for duty equip
ped' amounted to 1890. The cavalry
aggregated 2,424; the artillery consisted OF
s74 guns, with an artillery guard of 2,45O
officers and enlisted men. This guard, as
I have mentioned, together with some of
the artillery, was joined to one of the ar
tillery corps when the infantry was reduced
about the middle of May. The engineer
battalion numbered 3l4 officers and enlisted
men. The engineer brigade in charge OF
the bridge trains. and the provost guards |
have not included; nor have | added the
"extra men of the quartermaster's sub
sistence and medical departments, amount
ing in all to 19, 083; nor are such men prop
erly included in the strength of that army.
In making this campaign it was essential
to have from fifteen to twenty days sup
plies in our main trains, hence their great
size. A small fighting-train accompanied
the troops.
According to the "returns - in the Office
OF the Adjutant General of the Army
Burnside's . command, the Ninth corps, ag
gregated, "present for duty equipped,
10, 486, when. on the morning OF the 9th of
May, he united with the Army of the Po-
tomac. AS this corps formed no part of
the Army Of the Potomac until the end of
May, Ihad no exact information as to its
strength on the 9th of May among my
papers.
be three infantry corps, each about 90
900 strong, commanded by Ewell. Hill and
T,onestreeG. who arrived the 81 of May, and
4. 600 or 10000 cavalry commanded by
Stuart, with due proportion of artillery