The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-11-23

mOnstrance Of his staif officers. and by the
evident necessity Of giving his attention
and personal supervision to the move
ments Of the Union forces on both tanks
of his command.
know that General Finegan on this
occasion was fully equal TO all the duties
required of him, and that he was an able,
prudent and brave commanding officer
fearless in the discharge Of duty, and vet
carefully svailing himself of all the op-
portunities and advantages within his
reach. His subsequent service In some of
the hardest fought battles of Virginia.
and the high concentrations which he
received from his Commanding Generals
there, abundantly prove his capacity and
merits as q soldier. sAra
/ observe in the statement of Maior
Walter another injustice to General Fin
egan, in stating that he ordered halt on
the evening of the battle, and that his
remarkable inAction In not moving until
late the second day prevented the cap
ture of the entire Federal army.
The facts are as follows: The battle
astsd EaTces TCs s,s : vas quite dark. The Union
shout one end : half Of two miles. While
our line was temporarily delayed in the
pursuit In crossing swamp with some
low, wet ground on either side, General
Finegan rode up with his staff to General
Colquitt, and after some very cordial and
complimentary remarks as to the conduct
of General Colquitt and his command,
ordered him to continue the pursuit, in
tending to occupy Sanderson. that night;
but in Difference to his suggestion of the
fatigue of the troops, the absence of ra-
tions and the disadvantages of the pursuit
in the dark, and in consequence of q re-
port from an advance cavalry picket that
the enemy had halted for the night and
taken q position, which was subsequently
ascertained to be incorrect, the order was
Withdrawn; but the cavalry was ordered
to pursue the retreating Union forces
vigorously. At this time the Confederate
dead and wounded to the number of, /
think, about nine hundred and ninety
eight, lay on the field uncared for. The
Federal wounded, to much greater num-
ber-twenty-seven hundred-also lay up
on the field. The supplies for the troops
were fastened forward, but by the next
morning the Union army, by the aid of
the railroad, were far beyond the reach of
pursuit, on their retreat toward Jackson
Vile.
1t is possible that our forces might, in
the darkness of the night, have overtaken
the retreating Union forces in their rapid
flight, and have captured considerable
portion of them. However this may have
been, the losses were large; the details of
men for the burial of the dead and the
removal Of the wounded were large; the
Union forces had been driven from the
field step by step, and the darkness of
night found them retiring in comparative
order, and General Finegan's order for
the infantry to halt was given with the
approval of most of the officers, and, as
remember, of General Colquitt himself
A severe battle had been fought with
a largely inferior force on our side-a
largely superior force on the Federal side
and our men were in no condition to
continue the pursuit. The night found
them between four and five miles away
from their supplies, and some time was of
necessity lost in obtaining for them the
necessary rations. think, therefore, the
criticism of the writer of the article in
question, in regard to General Finegan's
inaction, is both unjust and incorrect.
(Signed) WILKINSON CALL