The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-08-14

q, D. souTHE M HIsToR,eAb sooTgrY P1rERs
ron sEprsNBER has been laid on our tabe'
and and is an interesting and valuable No..
Ess ieneralJ. z. B. srvART's full report OF
fthe Gettysburg campaign has never been IN
l:prInt before, and win be found deeply
interesting sketch of the operations.oi the
cavalry corps before, at. and after dettyss
burg, together with General sTUARr.s eA-
PLANTATION OF his separation from the nam
army, and his views OF the effect OF TINS Oh
the campaign. f#'.tsi-,'
The myth OF ]" BARBARA FRrETcHIE' ana
4 her flag. upon which "sToNEwALL :" JACK A g
soy according to the Yankee newspapers
" ordered his men to FREE is very effectua-
" disposed Thy General: EARLY; and1n a
4 letter from Mr.. yALEEIUs EBERT, who is
1 a NEPHEW OF i" Dame BAKBARA," ana VINO
Estates that the whole story upon "hicn
WHITTIER POUNDS the poem which many OF
our school-readers contain) sis fiction,
nure fiction, without even the remotest sem
hlance or esembIance Of fact" since JACK
soS did not pass near heold ladg's house,
and she was. besides, at this time bed-r'u-
den and utterly poweriess to move save as
she was moved by others. .,.. H..
| General CHALMERS is completely, Vindlca-
| ted from the ISLANDERS SO long circulated
AGAINST him and others Of FoRREsT's COM
mand concerning the "Fort Pillow " AZ
,air. nv a letter from DR.. c. FITCH, OF Carl
lton, Iowa, who was post-surgeon at Fort
Pillow at the time Of its capture.
Repcrts hitherto unpublished OF General
KIRBY SMITH and General DICK TAYLOR
give some interesting facts OF operations IN
the Trans Mississippi department.
A private letter from General r. E. LEE,
written without any expectation that IL
would ever be published, is very valuable
as giving his autlously-eXpresSed Opinions
concerning several important battles and
campaigns. After discussing The objects
OF the first Maryland campaign, he says:
| AS to the battle OF Gettysburg, ! must
again refer you to the official accounts. It's
loss was occasioned by combination OF
circumstances. 1t was commenced in the
absence OF correct intelligence. 1t was
continued in the effort to overcome the dl1-
ticulties by which we were surrounded
and it would have been gained could one
determined and united blow have been de-
livered by our whole line. AS 1t was, VIC
tory trembled in tn" balance for three days,
and the battle resulted liz the ntlIcllon OF
as great an amount OF Injury as was re-
ceived, and in frustrating the Federal cam
paign for the season.
Think YOU will find the answer to your
! Nf
Fredericksburg. In taking up the position
there It was with the view OF resisting Gen
eral BurnSide's advance after crossing the
Rappahannock rather than OF preventing
Its passage.
The plain of Fredericksburg is COM
DleteIv commanded by the heights OF STAT
ford, which prevented our occupying it in
the first instance. Nearly the whole loss
that our army sustained during the battle
arose from the pursuit OF the repulscd
Federal columns INTO the plain. TO have
advanced the whole army into the plain
for the purpose of attacking General Burn.
side would have been to baye insured
its destruction by the fire from the
continued line OF guns On the Stafford
hills. It. was considered more wise 10 meet
the Federal army beyond the reach OF their
batteries than under their muzzeS, and
even to invite repeated renewal OF their ar
lacks. When convinced OF their inutllity,
it was easy for them, under cover OF long,
dark, and tcmpestuous night, TO cross INC
narrow river by means OF their numerous
bridges before we could ascertain their pur-
pose.
my remarks, but l hope that nave bcen
able to present to you some facts which
la FtI tn
rect conclusions. / must ask that you will
consider what have said as intended sole
" for yourself.
Very respectfully and truly yours,
r. Z. LEE.
In Editorial Paragraphs, the Secretary
Dr. JoNEs) thus etfectualIy disposes OF {
matter which has been somewhat discussed
of late:
The question of the wearing OF breast.
plates by soldiers in the United States army
has had somewhat amusing ventilation in
the Nation recently. Captain j. \. Jud-
son, who was assistant Acknowledgement oil
y Hatcl's cavalry brigade, made very fierce
attack on General Dick Taylor's statement
that he saw "brcast plates and other pro-
tective devices" on the persons OF Federal
soldiers at MiddIcburg and Winchester. Oh
Jackson's Valley campaign. The gallant
Captain waited until after the death OF
General Taylor to say that he " states
what he knew to be a deliberate false
hood" and uses other very ugly language
concerning General Taylor's narrative, re-
calling to any fair-minded man the old IA
BILE about 4" Kicking the dead HOn." The
editor of the Nation says in note that as
General Tavior's narrative had appeared III
the North american Rerie1o year before
his death, "some Of the severity Oh IAN
suage expended on it would have peen
more appropriate at an earlier date. NV
In subsequent issue OF the Noton' W :
S. Symington, OF Baltimore, VINO was au'
jutant Of the Twenty-tirst Virgins lcSt,
ment at the time, testitics tDat lie o'1" d,
Middlcburg and Winchester se,ei"'
breastplates on dead Federal soldiers
Colonel William Leroy Broun NOV pro-
soSsnr in Vanderbilt University, then ID
ch,rre of the arsenal at RichmonU pub
fishes in the same issue sla'e:heli. W III,
effect that few days after the "seven-days,
battles, around Richmond ne "So0 ana
cnref,tiiu examined t1co steel 6redStptdteS
toI.en from the bodies Of tooo federat SOL
li;crs,;. and Mr.. s. W. ThaXter writes from
| portland. Me-, that Captain Judson els III
| error in asserting that breaStplacs were not
worn by cavalry soldiers in Banks's army
in NAV, 1862. The writer found one which
q soldier left in bivouac, and tested It's quail.
inv as protective device by fastening 1t to
a tree and piercing 1t several times with