Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-01-22
LEE AND JOHNSTON.
The Two Men Contrasted-How the
Charlottesville Campaign Was
Fought and Won.
The Rtason OF Johnstoa's Attack on Mr..
DaTis-A Commander Who Never
Won a Victory.
Augusta Constitutionnlisl

1t IL well known that General Joe John
stoa - no love for Ex-President Davis
9" Tis true, lis pity; It's pity It's true" That
| two men at once 80 eminent and so beloved
throughout the South should have become
estra1ged, L. a subject of regret with thou
sands of their admirers. They, with Us, re-
gret that the utmost cordiality does not ex-
ist between them. That the general is In
fault however, is evident. He has always
been 90. Early in the war he seemed to
conceive the absurd idea that the Confederate
executive did not wish him to gain military
success, ard a consequence he was not fur
nisEed by the government with the means to
achieve victories. Obviously the impression
was erroneous; for, whatever interest
General Johnston might have had in
winning the independence of the Con-
federscy, Mr.. Davis h sd immeasurably more,
and victories were, therefore, cceptable,
cone from whom or whence they might.
General Johnston was on several occasions
. ected for supreme command in the
field at points where success was OF vital i'm
po-.ance He failed to win success; and his
efisgt TO throw the responsibility of his mill
ta-y I=isfortunes on the Confederate executive
have as signaliy failed. Other Confederate
commanders fought battles against superior
numb bers, and they won them, strange the
assertion may appear to General john
ston. He wholly misunderstood the sit
ua;ion, who, knowing that six mill
ions of people essayed the difficult task
of combating and beating twenty-five mill
ions, did not expect to fight numerical
odds. Yet the disproportion between the
armies under General Johnston and those
that faced them under Sherm an was never
greater than that between Generals Lee and
Hooker in the campaign of Chancellors-
vile. The effective force of the army of
Northern Virginia then was forty-one thous-
Al Il II IL -
and Hoods divisions being absent. The
army of the Potomac had an aggregate of
one hundred and thirty-two thousand
ninety-tbree thousand of whom were
south of the Rappahaunock and strong
ly intrenched. Yet Lee did not
order a retrogade movement. He did
not surrender mile of territory. He sum-
moned his army around him, left Early to
hold Sedgewick in check, and marched to
meet the enemy. He attacked with vigor as
soon he found that enemy. Another night
came and he had no thought of retreat. He
had determined to deliver battle on the
enemy's selected ground. Retaining Auder-
sons and McLaws's divisions, which numbered
fourteen thousand men, he dispatched the
intrepid "Stonewall" Jackson, with A
P Hills, Rhodes's, and Trimble's COM
mands to The left and rear of Hooker's
chosen position at Chancellorsville. All
through the succeeding day he hammered on
Hooker's front and produced the impression,
doubtless, that his intention was TO attempt
a direct assault. At pm, after long and
carefully conducted detour, veiled by cloud
OF Stuarts cavalry, under stuart in person,
Jackson's corps was in position ready Tor the
attack By morning the defenses of Chan
cellorsville were wrested from their multitu-
dinous defenders, and that night
General Hooker recrossed on his pom
toons and sheltered himself behind
the river. Lee then turned upon Sedgewick,
who was pressing Early, defeated him at
Salem Church, and the Chancellorsville
campaign was wen. Why could not General
Johnston, with his many opportunities, have
performed one such feat as this? All, we
very much fear that General Johnston will
forever in history be recognized votary
OF war who never won a vlctory-as a
commander who sacrificed great op-
portunities to mania for retreats
The history of the war presents not
a single inst lance where he personally COM
manded in the field that victory perched
upon the banners of the South. he was a
wonderfully unfortunate general. 1t were
useless to spscify-to recapitulate-the
facts are of record. No one doubts his per-
sonal courage-but that was eommon-nor
his fealty to the "Lost Cause" though the
unusual spectacle OF the surrender OF an
army in an open country, without giving
battle, has more OF suspicion IN the act than
his recently published insinuations against
Mr.. Davis relative TO the remnant of funds
of the Confederacy. No man has the right
to suggest charges involving moral
turpitude without evidence to convict. Yet,
after a half hearted disclaimer of the whole
truth of the interview, he says Mr.. Davis
Sought to account for this money" But as
General Johnston is the one Southern man
who deems an explanation necessary, Mr..
Davis can we'll afford to treat the sugges-
tion with the contempt it deserves. The
generals position is certainly untenable
now. The force of an unblemished charac-
ter, the sentiments of loyal people, are
against him. These are heavier odds than
he ever confronted in war Though fallen
from his high estate, though his name in
some fanatical sections North is the syno-
nym of all that is disrespectable, there is
no stain on the honor of Jefferson Davis,
and he yet reigns over an invisible empire
he reigns in the hearts Of his people.
Hence, General Johnston succeeds only in
injuripg himself when he seeks with an un-
Just aspersion to blacken the character of the
ex-president. His old tactics in war are at
length in order. A precipitate retreat is
at last justifable. He should make it at
Onca