Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1877-10-11

Gen. II. Heath. Q. s. A., ~ PhiladelPhis
Weekly Times.
Train a t.for an encoun-
ter and he can be whipped by IS
pienIy-if YOU pus soat Iis.eyes.
Rhe eyes Of an army ares it's
eaNahy. Before .Easell crossed
the Potomac General Lee wrote
TO General Stuart, commanding
the cavalry, in substance, as fol-
Elows: s.Ewell will cross the
Potomac at a certain point. Hill
Twill follow Ewell, crossing ON a
lgiven, day at a given point;
-ILoBgstreet will hold the gaps
lin the mountains and protect
the crossing of these fw0fcoFps;
after Hill has crossed Longstrees
will vaeate the gaps and follow
Hill; on Longstreesa yacating
i the gaps in the mountains, yon
will seize them and project
ILongstreet's crossing; then fob
low Longstreet, throw yourself
ion the right flank of the army,
watch the enemy, give me all
THE informationfyou can gather
of his movements, and collect
supplies General Stuart, prob
tably thinking he could carry
tout General Lees ordersy and
Eat the same time make a bril-
liant dash toward and threaten
ing Washington, worked byliis
right flank, separating himself
from Longstrcet, crossing tie
| Potomac between the enemy
and Washington City-making
a swoop toward Washington,
then turning west 10 join the
Army of Northern Virginia.
when he found the, enemy had
crossed the Potomac and were
between him and kthat army.
This necessitated his riding en-
tircly around the Federal army,
and brought him, whether from
necessity or not / can not say,
ito Carlisle, Penn. From this
point he struck south and Joined
the Army of Northern Virgin
ia, being late sn The egening E6f
July I'd. 1t is thus evident that
30 far as deriving any tassis-
tance from his cavalry from the
- of June to the eyeningsof
July 2nd lit might as we'll have
had no existence. Every Off
Ger who conversed with Geher-
al. Lee for several days previ-
GUS to the battle of Gettysburg,
will remember having heard
such expressions as these: sCam
you tell me where General Stu
art is?0 "Where on earth is
my cayalry?" "Haye you any
news Of the enemy's move
EmentsY' "What is the enemy
going to do?D aIf the enemy
does not find us we must try
and find him, in the absence Of
our cavalry, as best we can!"
The eyes of the giant were out;
he knew not where to strike; a
movement in any direction
might prove Q disastrous blum
DER. 81. 80 f
II Had our cavalry been in po-
sition, General Lee would have
known of Reynolds approach
in the direction of Gettysburg
ltwenty-four hours before this
corpsreached Gettysburg. Gen
eral Lee could, and probably
would, had he known the, enc
my were in motion, have occu-
pied Gettysburg on the 29th or
30th of June, and rendered his
position impregnable.
Lad our cavalry been in. po-
siiicn, General Lee, If he saw
| proper, could have permitted
Reynold's corps to have ocen-
pied Gettysburg as it did-but
instead Of this corps being un-
masked by two brigades Of my
division, it would have been afr
tackled by LongStreets Eweif
| and Hills corps. In that case
the fate Of this, corps DO one
can doubt; and had the. enemy
thrown forward reinforcemcnts'
as lie did, they Would have beer
crushed in detail. .;....f
Had our cavalry been in POI
sition the chances are that the.
battle never would have been
fought at Gettysburg; but
whether there or elsewhere, the
battle would have been planned
and .digested with that consum-
mate skill and boldness which
characterized the plans of the
greatest of American soldiers
in his seven days fight around
Richmond, his discontinue Of
Pope, his ChancelIorsvTlIe fight,
and his series of battles in 1864,
from the Wilderness TO Gold
Harbor. y1aai g 4 oi itIc snzei
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