The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1877-10-12
WHY LEE FAILED At GETTYSBURG.
No cavalry-The Great Importance Of this Arm
Of the Service.

Gen. H Heth, G. S. A., in Philadelphia Times
Train giant for an encounter and he
can be whipped by pigmy-if you put out
his eyes. The eyes OF an army are it's cav.
airy. Before Ewell crossed the Potomac
Generel Lee wrote to General Stuart, com,
manding the cavalry, in substance, as fol
lows: "Ewell will cross the Potomac on a
certain day, at a certain point. Hill will
follow Ewell, crossing on a given day at a
given point; Longstreet will hold the gaps
in the mountains and protect the crossing
of these two corps; after Hill has crossed
Lopgstreet will vacate the gaps, and follow
Hill; on Longstreet vacating the gaps in the
mountains, you will seIze them and protect
Longstreet's crossing; then follow Long
street, throw yourself on the right flank of
the army, watch the enemy, give ME all the
information you can gather OF his move
ments, and collect supplies" General Stu
art, probably thinking he could carry out
General Lees orders, and at the same time
| make brilliant dash toward and threaten
ing Washington, worked by his right flank,
separating himself from Longstreet, cross
ing the Potomac between the enemy and
Washington City-making swoop toward
Washington, then turning west to join the
Army of Northern Virginia, when he found
the enemy had crossed the Potomac and
were between him and that army. This
rod riIinor In aro1ynI In
Federal army, and brought him, whether
from necessity or not | cannot say, to Car
Isle, Pa. From this point he struck south
and joined the Army of Northern Virginia,
being tate in the eoening Of july second. 1t
is evident that so far as deriving any assist
ance from bis cavalry from the-of June to
the evening of July 2, it might as well have
had no existence. Every officer who convers-
ed with General Lee for several day previous
to the battle of Gettysburg, well remembers
having heard such expressions as these:
"Can you tell me where General Stuart is?'
"Where on earth is my cavalry?' Have
you any news of the enemy's movements"
''What is the enemy going to do?" ''1ftle
enemy does not find US, we must try and
find him, in the absence of our cavalry, as
best we CAMP The eyes of the giant were
out; he knew not where to strike; move
ment in any direction might prove disas-
trous blunder.
Had our cavalry been in position, Gener-
al Lee would have known of Reynolds ap-
proach in the direction of Gettysburg twen-
ty-four hours before this corps reached Get
tysburg. General Lee could and probably
would, had he known the enemy were in
motion, have occupied Gettysburg on the
Goth or 30th Of June, and rendered his po-
sition impregnable.
Had our cavalry been in position, General
Lee, if he saw proper, could have permitted
Reynolds Corps to have occupied Gettys-
burg as it did--but instead of this corps
being unmasked by two brigades of my di-
vision, it would have been attacked by Long |
streets, Ewell and Hills Corps. In that |
case the fate of this corps no one can doubt;
and had the enemy thrown forward rein
forcements as he did, they would have been |
crushed in detail.
Had our cavalry been in position, the
chances are that the battle never would |
have been fought at Gettysburg; but wheth-
er there or elsewhere, the battle would have |
been planned and digested with that con-
sumate skill and boldness which character
lied the plans of the greatest of American
soldiers in his seven days fights around |
his discontinue of Pope, his
Charlottesville fight, and his series of
battles in 1864, from the Wilderness to Cold |
Harbor.