Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-09-15

be truthful and candid. He certainly gle
: r.fies the valor of the British soldier bu
he does ample justice to Barney ard hi
men. According to his story the battl
began at the bridge The strip of wood
along the stream on the west side was fillet
with American skirmishers, as certainly i
ought to have been, and the British had t
shelter themselves behind the houses O
the village. The distance from this lin,
to the street where the British formed t.
charge across the bridge would not exceed
suppose, 500 feet. When they pushed
forward to the bridge the American artil
lery opened on them with tremendou.
effect. Almost an entire company wert
swept off at the first discharge. After
that, however, the gunners seem to have
lost their heads, for subsequent discharge:
did little or no damage. When across the
bridge the British deployed to right OF
left and quickly brushed away the first
line, which apparently was an insignificant
one. Pressing forward without waiting
for the main body to come up they
ran against the second line Of the Ameri-
cans and were in turn driven back. Being
reinforced, they rallied, and soon put this
second line to flight. So far they had not
more that half their men on the west side
of the river. They had met with very
small loss except at the bridge at the very
outset. When they came to Barney's bat
terry, they encountered very destructive
fire, and if Barrey's infantry supports had
not given way, as they did with exceeding
promptness, the British would doubtless
have been held in check. In all this | am
following Gleig's account. The men stood
by their guns, he tells us, until some OF
them were actually bayonetted with fuses
In their hands; " nor was it till their leader
was wounded and taken, and they saw
themselves deserted on all sides by the
soldiers, that they quilted the field"
The loss of the enemy, considering the
numbers engaged, was surprisingly large.
Upwards of 500, our author tells us, were
killed and wounded. son the side of the
Americans the loss was not so great. Be-
ing in the possession of strong position,
they were of course, less exposed in de-
Tending than the others in storming it, and
had they conducted themselves with cool
ness and resolution, it is not conceivable
how the day could have been won. But
the fact is that, with the exception of a
party of sailors from the gunboats, under
the command of Commodore Barney, no
troops could behave worse than they did"
And in spite of the excuses and explana-
tions offered by American writers, candor
compels me to believe that he is correct.
In saying this, | by no means concede
that the American troops were lacking in
courage. The militia who gave way in
panic, by far the greater number without
firing a shot, were of the same stock as
Barney's Sailors and with the same leader
ship and training would have held their
ground with the same stubbornness. II is
not the purpose of this paper to show how
this battle ought to have been fought 1t
can profit nothing to discuss that now, and
if it could, do not claim to have any
knowledge of the art of human destruc-
ton l am sure that if | had, most I'M
happily, been called upon to plan the battle,
should in the first place have destroyed
the bridge, below which the river is not
fordable, and therefore needed no defense,
as the British had neither boats nor pom
toons. In the second place, | should have
filled with infantry the old mill-race
which skirts the river for perhaps half
annie, and which could have been drained
in short time, placing the artillery be-
hind on higher ground. And even with
the rawest of troops, who nevertheless
were much better marksmen than the Eng
fish, / should not worry much about the
second and third lines, for / should not ex-
fha 20 thn
rate, if that would not have been first-rate
generalship, it could not have been worse
than that which was exhibited The
real truth is not, perhaps, that General
Winder was incompetent, but that there
was no leadership and no authority.
The Secretary of War and many
gentlemen from Washington were out Civ
ing valuable advice and suggestions about
a matter of which they knew nothing, and
which was none of their business if they
had known. There was no battle, only
some accidental grouping of men and a
little random firing followed by wild
panic and PERCEPTIONS flight. In minia-
ture, it was the first battle of Bull Run,
except that the forces were not SO large
that they could not find plenty of room to
run away in. The losses on the American
side were insignificant, being in ali less
than hundred. Except Barney's men,
who were fairly surrounded, no prisoners
were taken, as the militia were very fleet
of foot.
If any one shall deem from these re-
marks that the writer is unpatriotic, or
that he has too little confidence in the
valor of American troops, or that he I'M
derestimates the power of our country, l
beg leave to differ with him in toto. l
have had my little inning as soldier,
and l know the stuff of which our armies
are made. l know that in war with any
nation worthy of being designated a
" Power" unless far better prepared than
we could now hope to be, with even six
months or a years notice, We should suffer
enormous losses. The moral for us to draw,
then, is that we had better not indulge in
dangerous sports until we are somewhat
prepared to take the possible consequences.
III. E. W.