Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1878-08-01
Grants Forces Before Richmond.
WASHINGTON, D, c., July ., 1878.

10 the GATOR OF te HuMtHg.2H os'
10 the reported interview between Nh ).
Russell Young, of The New York Herald, and
Gen. u. S. Grant, upon the subject OF the
recon: war sod the character Of certain Conted.
crate generals, Gen. Grant is represented as
saying that the relative forces OF the Federal
aud Confederate armies were about or nearly
the same We can scarcely believe that the
ex.PfesilcDt could have made Wlltul mlsrep'
resentali9n upon subjec! SO easy ofrefuatioD,
| or that be ccu'd have been gnoran. OF recorded
facts, which came under his immediate ob;er.
walton, and was part OF his daily duty to take
cognjzance OF at the time. We Gao only
conclude, therefore, that Mr.. Young, 10 the
plentitude of his zeal TO arrange the Generals
political habiments for future exhibition. has
manufactured this particular garment to SUIT
| bis own ideas.
In the interest Of rah and historic accuracy
| have taken The liberty to enclose herewith,
for publication. an extract from Col. W. II:
Taylor's -Four years with General Lee.
embracing the Official report Of the aggregate
Of all arms of the army uoder Gen. Lee, from
the Wilderness to Cold Harbor and the aggte-
gate of troops employed by Gen. Grant from the
! Rapidsn to the James. 10 ln5tltuIlng q
comparison between the generalship or the two
commanders and the hghtlng qualtles CT
| the two armies, the numerical strength or cacG
| becomes the first point Tor consideration, and
the fact mentioned by Gen. Grant that the ne
eroes took The place of the whites on the farms
| thus enabling q majority OF the male white
population take up arms, has no bearing What
ever upon thu result OF q battle between iWo
determinate forces, or the military characters
and generaIship of the commanders. Colonel
commencement of this extraordinary campaign
the effective strength Of the army under Gen.
Lee was $1,000 men, and that under General
Grant was al, 100 men. The only reirf,rce.
ments received by Gen. Leo were as follows:
Near Hanover Junction be was Joined by a
small force under General Breckenridge, from
Southwestern Virginia, 900 strong, aud Pick.
ett's division Of LoDgstreet's (trst) corps,
which had been on detached service 10 North
Carolina; Hoke's brigade, of Early's division,
| 200 strong, which had been on detached duty
at the junction, here also rjained its division;
and at Cold Ilarbor Gen. Lee received the d.
vision Of General Hokc also, just from North
Carolina; the TWO divisions, Plcket,'s and
Hoke's, numbering II, 200 men. The aggre'
gate Ct these rei1forcements IA, 400 men), ad.
ded to Gen. Lees original strength, would give
| IS, 400 as the aggregate OF all troops engaged
under him from the Wilderness to Cola Har-
Dor.
When at Spottsylvania Court House, Gen.
Grant was reinforced from Washington, but
can only cobi,clu.e to what extent. The Fed
cral Secretary OF War states that the chief
part of the force designed TO guard the Middle
department and the department OF Washing:
ton was called forward to the front Report Of
the Secretary of War, frs. session Thirty.
ninth Congress vol. |, leG5-C0, p: I at TINS
time. The same authority puts the effective
strength Of these two departments Cd the 18th
of May at 47,75l men Ibid, pp. 5, CT, Of
which the chief part-lct us say 3j,000-was
sent to the aid of General Grant. A! Cold
Harbor he was joiued by Gen. ". T. Smith,
With four divisions taken from the Tenth and
Eighteenth corps. numbering 10000 men.-
(Swinton's Army Of the Potomac. p. 4S2).--
Adding these reinforcements to Gen. Grant s
original strength, We have 1872, lG0 men as the
aggregate of the troops employed by him in
! bis operations from the Rapidan to the James.
The Federal loss in the battle Of the Wilder.
ness, SpottsylvaDia. North Anna aud Cold
Harbor, IS put at ''abou! 10000 men, by Nlr.
SRintou, in his history Of the Army Of the
Potomac" 1t will thus b, seen that 10 this
campaign there were e 400 Confederate
troops under Gen. Lee, pitted against lY2, 60
Federal troops under General GRAFT. In the
light of the results Of those battles, We feel
justified 10 saying that had the respective
forces Ct the two armies been reversed l1s;cad
of being fetel by crowned heads in Europe, and
| publishing to tho world criticisms upon man
immeasurably his superior 10 all respects, Gen.
Grant would long since been RELOCATED to that
obscurily whence he :prang at the commence
| nent OF this war A, I. L. y.
OYSTER CULTURE IN ENG.AND.-lt is the
custom in England to throw into the water, at
the time that the little oysters are due, 'cucb;
! that is, old oyster shells, and moro especially
cookie shells, the little oysters having Fortunate
Iy great partislity for cookies, for The shape
Of the cookie allows them to expand into shape
somewhat OF rose leaf; for there is form aud
fashion among oysters, as there is among china.
A thoroughbred native should have hand
some deep cupped SHE'LL which shell should be
thin, almost transparent; and the proportion OF
meat to she'll should be one't0urth. The oys'
ter is fit for market and at its prime about tlV3
or SIX years old.
The Eoest oysters are. OF course, the natives,
which are found on the London clay in the
neghborhood Ct the Thames estuary; the next
in quality are the Nllfords. 1t is aremarkablo
fact that oysters from Ireland invariably have
black boards; English oysters never. Oysters
are bred 10 large quantities at and above Bor-
d:aux, South of France; but they are very thin,
and from the experiments hitherto tried, it ar
pears that they do not take kindly to English
waters. The reason of this is unknown, but it
is probable that the water in England is too
cold for them.
From tho 18th to the end of June is the
spatting time for native oysters 1t Is not
known how long they fiat in the water before
they adhere to the culch. They first are no.
ticcd adherng to cookie or other shells as a
minute spcck, somewhat resembling slate pencil
or coarse pepper. A really heavy fall @! spat is,
unfortunately, an event that has not occurred
for many years. The exact conditions for a
heavy fall have not get been thoroughly asoer-
tanned. Certain it "a, however, that the prin.
cipal element OF success is warm, quiet weather.