The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1881-01-27
Collecting and Arranging the Records
of the War Between the States
How the Work is Done, etc, etc.


+ and publishing the Confederate archiye
4 at Washington, gave 4 history of this vas
g enterprise. Shortly after the close of th,
f war, General Wright had the largest collec
, ton OF Confederate records 10 be found any
where and agreeably 10 Mr.. Davis advice
arranged TO publish what he had Befor,
l this, however, the Government had estab
: lshed bureau for collecting and publish
ing the records on both sides and this ob
waited the necessity of General Wright.
work. But Southern officers being dis
inclined to send their records 20 a bureau il
which they had no representative, Southern
Congressman complained to the Secretary
of War, who agreed that a Confederat,
should be appointed, and suggested Mr.
Wright, who accepted the appointment
under conditions that were readily complied
with.
! We annex the following extracts from this
interesting letter
BRINGING Up THE RECORDS.
"With what success have You worked ~
With more than / could have hoped for.
have succeeded in getting four times "a
many records as the government had when
| went there and | may say that the chain
Is now nearly complete The Confederate
records viii be almost, ii not quite, as fun
! AS the Federal records and this is more than
any one could have hoped for. | went per-
! sonally to the Indian Territory and sue
ceeded in getting the records of that depart
ment without the loss of a paper. / have
gone everywhere that | saw q chance of
| supplying a link Of evidence | succeeded
in getting copies of all the records of the
Southern Historical Society-of itself a
most important collection the officers of the
! Contederacy have felt no hesitation in en-
| trusting their records TO u.s. and have helped
/ III every possible way, l am now having
copies made ofall DIR. Davis papers, and his
attest put upon each copy"
How will the publication be made 2'
/ CAS- follows Colonel r. n, Scott. Of
the Federal army, has charge OF the Federal
records He is assisted by Captains Hartley
and Craige l have charge Of the Confed-
crate records and Major Harvie assists me-
We take the events of the war as they come
In order OF time, treating each battle aud
campaign separately. To show how we
cover battle, let Us take the first Manas-
Sis First we publish the official report Of
General Mcdowell, who commanded the
Federals then the official report of General
Johnston, commander OF the Confederates
Then follows the reports of the Federal
corps commanders, and the Confederate
corps commanders. Then come the division
and regimental and company reports of
each side. After this is published the field
notes from each side, and you have no idea
how important and interesting are these
little feld-not6s scratched off hastily in the
heat Of battle on the pommels of saddles
They are like flashes Of lightning that show
up the battle wildly. After the field-uotes
comes the correspondence of each general
commanding with his department, or Presi-
dent or commander-in-chief BY this procesa
we get the battle from every possible point
of view"
'1ow many books have you published %
There are three volumes about ready
These nearly complete the history of the
year 1861, covering the Charleston and
Fort Sumter affair, the battle Of Manassas,
and the fights in the Peninsula. The whole
series will fill from eighty to 100 volumes.
The books are printed in long primer, the
letters and orders being put in smaller
type. We shall be able to move much faster
hereafter and hope to conclude the year
1862 by the next assembling of Congress-
Glow can these books be obtained"
They can be purchased by depositing 81
a volume with A. +, Childs, chief clerk of
the government printing office, Washington,
ID. {. The volume covering any special
campaign can be ordered, or any part of a
set be ordered Those who wish anv Of
these books will do well to apply at once, as
New York booksellers are ordering heavily
and will DOUBTLESS raise the price very much
The government sells at actual cost There
Is one book Of the series for which there
will be special demand. That is a complete
roster OF every commissioned officer Of the
Confederate army where he was enlisted,
promoted, and what became of him. This
will be the official record-and viii be val
liable to the families Of those officers who
were killed"
"What developments have you noticed in
the records 50 far ~
Il find good many mistaken opinions
vanishing under the figures Of the record /
should have mentioned, that in closing the
records Of a battle we print the Official re-
turns Of the force in each army. issued
before the battle. Now it has been gener-
ally thought that at .he first Manassas the
Federals vastly Outnumbered US Tho
records show they had only about 1000 the
IN point OF numbers, each army
having about 30 600 men. I thought they
had at least 10000. ! suppose as we
the records Of other battles we
shall dispel many popular errors"
''You do not find the same mistake ex-
lists as to comparative numbers throughout
the warp
"Oh, no, sir, the records snow incontesta-
bly, that for four years we waged a war with
the proportion Of three to one against US.
The records show that the FederaIs had
from first 10 last, 2,30O,0O0 in the field. 1
can only approximate the Confederate total,
but IL is safe TO say that it will not exceed
100000 The study Of the records on both
sides has increased my admiration for the
valor and powess Of my people, without de-
preciatlng my estimate Of the bravery Of the
Federal troops"
THE REST AND CLEAREsT REPORTS,
"Whose reports are the clearest and best
from the Confederate side P'
"Gen. Lees sbeyond comparison. His
papers are perfection, He never wrote A
line or issued an order that did not have
the same dignity and Perspicuity that it
would have if prepared under the most de-
liberate circumstances. The slightest scrap
from him bears the impress Of greatness.
Vi the cavalry generals, Wheeler's reports
are the most admirable. Indeed his are
hardly equalled by any Of our generals.
They are clear complete and sOldierly In
Heed, when the records show what perfect
confidence all our leaders had in Wheeler.
and with what precision and fidelity he per-
ormed his duty, he will be considered one
If the first men of the war"
Mr.. DAVIS HISTORY.
"Has Mr.. Davis ayailed himself freely of
he records in preparation Of his forth
coming history ?''
'Yes. He has had thousands of copies
made, should say. His research has been
perfect, and he will hardly state anything
or which he will not be ready with his au-
hority.
HARDEE's LETTER.
''Have you the letter Of General Hardee
declining to take Johnston's place as com
handler of the army of Tennessee p
Yes, sir; and a most admirable letter Il
8. L is frank soldieFly letter, in which
he promotion il declined, simply because
be writer felt that he was not capable Of
filing the position. General Harase'a re-.