Litchfield enquirer., 1881-01-06
Charlottesville.


dealing with ancient history. Nevertheless il
most wildly recalls 10 the minds of oil old
eAongh 70 have appreciated the meaning Of
events, the distress. the almost despair, with
which, In the blacklist period of the war fol
the Union, loyal Americans heard of the battle
of Charlottesville. In these peaceful days
-wheHsisc~ 'success-sf-.apany &c an election
seems great thing. people are forgetting that
momentous period when the question whethe
this should be United States of America or q
Disunited States of Americas medley OF
thirty or forty distinct and separate sovereign.
ties-seemed all but decided against US. Chan.
cellorsville was the browning disaster of a
long series Of defeats. 1t seemed to prove the
of forcing Lee even as far back
40 the defenceseof Richmond. Up to this time
the Army OF the Potomac was but the
anvil OF the rebellion. 1t had shown wonder
full powers Of endurance, but it had failed to
show the mastery over it's enemy in the field
without which it could not hope to crush the
rebellion. m
That the battle of Charlottesville failed to
result In the ruin of Lee, the fall of Rich
uond, and the destruction Of the Confederacy,
was no fault of the government which had
furnished its chief general with lien adequate
TO accomplish all that Grant after wards accom-
plished. The Army of the Potomac had more
than double the force Lee could bring to meet
it. Hooker had outwitted his adversary, had
taken splendid position on his flank Lee
was obliged to fight in the open field with q
force doublehis own, wheredefeat was ruin.
All Of US remember the exultant bulletin in
which Hooker announced these facts and
our wonder when there came news first OF a
defensive battle, then of disaster and retreat.
That this untoward result was no fault of
Gen. John Sedgwick; that, on the contrary,
he did everything great soldier could do to-
wards accomplishing the impossible feat of
conquering Lees $4,000 men with his 90, 600,
his old staff officer abundently proves. The
admirable tactics by which be captured
Marye's Heights raise the thought whether If
this modest son OF Litchfeld county could
have been persuaded to attempt the task to
which Hooker proved unequal, there might
not have been different battle of Chancel.
lorsville on record in American history. For
the grand army under Hooker, after having
moved with admirable spirit and precision to
the place where victory was plainly within its
grasp seemed struck as with paralysis, and lay
for days helpless mass, exposed to every as
sault of the enemy, and with no power of
the gallant corps Under Sedgwck which alone
of all the Army of the Potomac showed any
power Of snslaught-of driving an enemy out
of strong positions and OF capturing important
territory from him.
To the soldier it may seem different, but to
the civilian the part Sedgwick played at Chan.
ceIlorsville seems the finest piece of soldering
he ever did, and one Of the finest of the war
Elsewhere he is part of great machine
used or misused by other intellects-a solid
block of uncomfortable New England granite
10 the center Of the great Northern army. In
the Charlottesville episode-as before in less
degree at Fair Oaks-he shows what power
If independent action there was in him. In
war as in peace, conceit. may for time
pass fer .nlerit-explosive Ben Butler. and
John Popes counting for more than quiet John
Sedgwicks' in the eyes of government and
people. But few years Of hard fighting
detects the base metal, and discloses the true,
and General Sedgwick lived long enough to
be generally estimated at his real value.
Whether the government judged more WISE
ly in offering him the commanded the Army
Of the Potomac than he judged himself in de.
clining it, 10 one Of the problems that must go
forever unsulved. This much is certain Gen.
Sedgwick must rank as the greatest soldier
New England contributed to the war. There
were great possibilities in Lyon, and others we
could mention, but those possibilities never
developed into actualities Sedgwck real
ly became the greatest. corps commander of
the armies of the East, and one of the grand
EST leaders Of the war. It always seemed, in
iced, bard that the regiment of his own coun-
ty which, afterwards took high rank in the
Sixth Corps, should never have known him
az their commander ! but he had gone to his
last resting place among their own hills only
IA few weeks before they underwent their first,
fearful baptism Of fire. at Cold Harbor.
| Sunday saw one OF, the sharpest church elec-