New-York tribune., 1882-04-08


was that the enemy were IN retreat bche'ihe
that to be the case General Hooker ordered the
CORPS to my left General Sickless corps, and other
troops up to the front and then he sent an ORDER
Tor nv reserve and went with it TO see what was
to be DONE Apparently Jackson was nearly pas' a'
the time. Then the troops went out at leas' t"o
miles and half straight from us.
al returned TO ny command and was there when
the first firing began on the pickets. The story
about nv remaining in perfect Indifference all day
is absolutely false General Whittlcsey himself
went along the whole line and Inspected IL from
the left to the right" General Whittlesey' VINO
was present mt this interview, stated that he started
from the left and rode to the extreme right and i'm
medately returned to headquarters to report where
| the extreme right rested Z" / gave orders for him
| TO be on the alert again and again. l sent stan
officers constantly to the right. Colonel Won
Gilsa's story that he 70 headquarters ana re-
ceved such q reply as Doubleday relates, ana was
very indignant about it, believe to ne wofk f oi
| the imagination | am speaking now simply Tom
recollection but General Doubleday mas seen II,
to assa me and to follow me up unmerciinliy' anu
to rob me of the record to which am entitled tnnk
that Charles Scrbners Sons VIII be wise enough 70
give me the opportunity 10 make Te)oinder III tne
same series and in the same sIyIe: u nooords ond
General Doubleday has not consulted the recorus
here at all and has never written f0r any lniorUt-
tion that can find. | am surprised at thls, pe-
| cause he has been some time at IL. IIe Samo J ~
West Point at one time to consult Inc, and snoweu
him my report and he took an extract from ~. a
| "Did Captain Farmer Of PIeasontoirs tart s,am,
report to You that he had found a rebel battery
| posted directly on the flank OF your CORPS as
Doubleday states u r,o,o+
al never had any report from Farmer. uo not
remember any such report at all, nor any sucn en-
cumstances connected with It, NO shcn lnioi'h
| tion cane to me. There no opportunity Tor any
such thing General jackson, when he came III.
| came as he usually did, thoroughly formed they
| came right in with rush, firing as they came.
"Wfat was the strength Oh your ioioo WIZ"
~Mv for.e after Bariow's brigade had been taken
| awav was about 5000 men. 1t was sufficiently
large to hold the enemy IN cheek had h1o M P.o anu
| made very readily and very cooily. Ucheral ochuiH
would have Just faced right about ana thrown l,'s
forces off to the right of Devens we naa 'eh ;J n9
| reserve of Steinwehr because the attack ana not
reach to Stenwehrs division until il came from the
| right rear. The same thing happened several times
during the war At the battle in which Oenerai
Mcpherson was killed. General Blairs command
| was placed in the same position ana managed I'd
hold until relieved In that case "1 neither 9cr
IL Hood took advantage of the absence oil cavalry
lust as Lee did He made his assault upon onr leiI
| flank and it failed because OF the WONDERFUL
| when the assault was made on the right flank |
was at Dowdals Tavern. There is an implicatlon
| that | disobeyed orders. Officers from Ocncrai
! Hacker came and went all the time, all day long,
| and had there been the slightest opportunity I'd
prefer charges against me Tor dlsoDeuehce vi oiuc'
| II vould have been done years and years ago Ten
| eral Hooker was not friendly to me, ana never
regarded him lie was apparently so 10 my Iace,
hut he'd reason to know that he was not so III my
| absence Still was always loyal to him whiie he
was in command, and did my best 10 sustain MN;
put my troops where he ordered them, ana carried
out his orders literally. In fact, do not thlnk
| General Uooker's movement of the troops beyond
| INV left was had move. If they hau succeeueu III
following Jackson right up closely IN his rear % wneh
| he came 10 assa me- he would have been assaulted
| simuItaneouslv but some way other he was able
TO hold III check the force sent out to follow MN mp
| How many men were Ill this smovenent-ioilo"-
iuo Iaok
Il find that Sickless troops portion of mine
under Barlow and some of Pleasantons troops were
| out there III position ready to fall upon JACKSON
| after he passed me, and did so, but how much ot
| General Slocums command was out TO the iroht %
ho hoc hot to fhe FIRST h When made nv first stand
| failed on account of the panic. was urged py
several officers bring my batteries to bear on my
| own men to keep them from giving way. l deciheu
TO do IT, | would not destroy life uselcssy stem,
wehr and were together side by side and watched
every movement. / stood there; saw the batteries
in positjon saw them used but when the enemy
began firing upon them they became panlc-strickeh
and went to the rear. The next line we formed ON
the edge of the woods and held that as long as we
could, and DIger's battery on retiring tetrea
gradually, firing all the time, ana WIN that caSt
battery / retired Then | went rapidly 10 inc hfst
height where | could make another lornlatloh'
met General Berry. who cook the right oi TN" road
and | the left. There were some panlc-strickeh
officers VINO carried of the troops even after put IN
position but still opened fire there ana III was
under the terrific fire from that ridge that jackson
was stopped, and there is where he died"
GETTYSBURG.
.What motive do you think actuates General
Doubleday i'll his severe criticisms OF yourselfT
at is always a good thing when of promi
nence assaults you to know what his animus is, and
have thought this might be the case In making
nv report il is alleged that did not do justice to
the First Corps the first day at Gettysburg, and 1t
is a true charge / did not, and the simple reason
was because none of the commanders gave me their
reports If could have had their reports 10 as To
give them credit in mine, would have been very
glad. but ceased after the first day TO command
the First Corps The First Corps did most gallant
service at Gettysburg OF General Doubledays
own part in il | am not able to judge at all Others
can Judge better"
How did General Doubleday como to be relieved
by Newton On the second day ~
@Doubleday was the commander of division
and he naturally fell back to his division. think
Meade had great confidence in Newton"
ain his book Doubleday twice states that you
sent a misleading and false report to General Meade
respecting the retreat of the First Corps about tho
time you arrived on the field. Do you think that
has anything to do with his anirnus toward you "
"That would be a sufficient cause for his feel
ing but | have recollection OF any such re-
port. and do net believe ! made 1t. ! say
that because it never entered my Imagination
that the First Corps giving way until 1t I'm
ally came to the rear, and when 1t did come to the
rear il was moving to the rear under positive IN
structons sent by me. | ordered both the Eleventh
and First Corps to retire to Seminary Hill and to
take position there the Eleventh on the ROAD lac
ing toward the town and the First Corps to the
left. and after General Hancock joined me he took
q norton of the First Corps over to Culp's HILL
That was the disposition made on Seminary
Height. If ] sent such a report as Doubleday men
tions | must have used the word corps by mis-
take, because knew precisely what had occurred
examined prisoners and got information from the
staff knew that the enemy was before us press
ing on in very largo force. before we had any