Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1879-11-06
5ttistelIameuns 4eading.
THE SOUTHERN WAR RECORDS.

| THE SOUTHERN WAX RECORDS.
A reporter of the Star this morning dropped
into the large building on G street, corner Of
Twentieth, where the official records of the
late war are being compiled. General Mar.
Gus j. Wright, who is engaged in collecting
the records of the Confederate side, was found
in his Office. He said: ."Very many of the
most valuable official papers Of the Confeder-
ate army were lost or destroyed in the gener-
al break up and surrender. Our purpose is
to get copies of all such papers, and thus
make complete the official records of that
side. Such of the papers as were preserved
were obtained by the government, and l was
appointed to procure duplicates Of those that
were lost"
"But how did you get these duplicates?"
"From the officers Of the Confederate ar
my. They preserved copies of every report,
every official paper they sent to Richmond,
and many Of them kept copies of every off,
cial letter they wrote"
"Do the ex-Confederate officers give their
files up to your
"Oh, yes. AS a generaF rule they give
them to US, but where any of them have pa
pers they wish to keep, they allow US to make
copies Of them, and we return the originals.
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston turned over to US
his entire records containing all his reports,
official letters and report Of his subordinate
officers. have also all of Gen. Pemberton's 8
papers, and that gives us complete official
record of the Vicksburg campaign as con-
Quoted on the Confederate side"
"Did they turn over their papers entirely
to the government"
eyes. We preserve the papers, and they
are accessible at all times to those gentlemen,
if they should wish to see them or make cop
les. They give them to us very willingly, as it
relieves them of the trouble and care of keep
ing them, and does not deprive them Of any
use they would want to make Of the papers.
We take every precaution against loss by fire
or otherwise of the papers we get. We have
printed copies of each one made, and eighteen
or twenty copies are distributed around
among as many of the departments and other
government buildings, so that in case of fire
we are certain not to have them all de-
stroyed."
General, these records are to be published
by the government, are they not ?"
eyes, cir; that is what we are collecting
them for The purpose of the government is
to make up complete official history of both
armies of the civil war. The record of the
year 1861, of both sides, will be ready for
publication about the time Congress meets.
The volume will be printed by the govern
ment as any other public documents, and the
usual number distributed among the depart
ments and members ef Congress Then the
law provides that the work shall be stereo.
typed and sold to the public at the c6ssss price
of printing, so that any one can obtain the
work at comparatively little cost"
"'Will the records of the two armies be
printed separately?"
"Yes; separately, and in consecutive VOL
umes."
"Will the records be edited ?"
mo, not at all simply compiled so as to
present, in the order in which they were is
sued, the official reports, letters, orders, etc.,
of the war The compilation is in charge of
Colonel R. N. Scott, Of the Third Artillery,
U. S. A., and man better qualified for the
work could not have been selected"
"How long will it take to finish up the en-.
tire work ?"
"It will require several years more to COM
plete the work for all the years Of the war"
Haven't you recently returned from COL
lecting tour in the South ?"
eyes, sir; got back few days ago, and
I obtained a number of very valuable pa
pers. I first went to see Gen. Joseph Wheel
er, in Alabama, who commanded the cavalry
Of Bragg's army. He gave me his entire file
of papers and reports, covering'he time from
his entry into the Confederate service until
the close of the war. next visited the In
dian Territory, and got set Of papers cover.
ing the military operations of the Confeder.
ates in what was called the District of the
Indian Territory. The district was COM
manded by Generals Albert Pike, Maxey
(pow United States Senator from Texas) and
D. II. Cooper. These records are quite i'm
portant. / also got all the official papers Of
Lieutenant-GeneralR R. S. Ewell (since dead),
and Who held an important command in the
Confederate army. l next visited General
E. Kirby Smith, who commanded the trans
Mississippi department, and got records. Du-
ring the war his department was, for long
time, pretty effectively cut off from Rich
mond, and the records there were incomplete
as to his military operations. found his
files very complete, though. Col. Richmond,
of McMinville, Tennessee, promised to send
me the official files of Gen. Leonidas Polk
Bishop Polk) who was killed during the
war. These papers will cover some very i'm
portant military movements. have many
of the papers Of General Beauregard, and he
has promised me the remainder as soon as his
book, now in press in New York, shall have
been printed. He held, as you know, very
high commands, and his files will cover some
of the most important operations of the war.
This winter I shall make trip to New Orleans,
Memphis and Mobile, where will get papers
of interest from ex-Confederate officers re-
siding at those points. The printing of these
is equivalent to the publication of an official
history of the war. The reports of battles
from officers on both sides, and other official
documents, will thus be preserved, and they
will speak truthfully and impartially of the
great events of the war. l had undertaken,
on my own account, the collection of Confeder-
ate records with the view of publishing them,
when Congress passed the act authorizing
them to be compiled. l had procured very
many valuable papers, and l Immediately
turned them over to the Adjutant-General of
the army. Subsequently, it was decided to
appoint an ex-Confederate officer to collect
the papers of that side, and the position was
rendered to me" Washington Star.
No BALDE EAGLE FOR Us.-The Camden
Journal has run up the name of Gen. Martin
Gary, of Edge6eld, for Governor at the elec-
ton next year, and seconded by the Marion
Star, which says:
"And why not? No man has the interest