The National tribune., 1889-12-26
JAMEs STEWART. Captain. U. $. A.

JANIS ClEhAhts tnptain, =. -. A.
tNoTE.-I have read with interest the cofnmuni-
cations Of Comrades Peek. 18th Conn and Fischer.
Of the Pioneers Eleventh Corps. Il grieves the to
see that my comments ou the BEHAVIOR OF the corps
have been apparently misiuteTpreied / thought
had clearly stated that the trouble with the Eley
enih Corps, Ia ny humble judgment was O. al at
lhs top that - 10 say, amoug is Generals God
forbid that should ever Sny one word against the
rank and Tie of that ar any other command / am
sure that could have taken SIX men. all General
oiuccrs-corps, division and brigade commanders
away from the Eleventh Corps and put six
others IN their places, and its history would have
been as brilliant as that of any corps in the Army
OF the Potomac. II the Eleventh Corps had had
such corps commander ~ Reynolds or Sedgwick /;
such division commanders Griffin, Gibbon.
peuy' N"dsWorth, or Robinson such brigade
commanders ss Sprigg Carroll. Joe Bartlett. Cut
Ter, stone. Morrow. Chamberlain, Stauuard. Webb,
or many others Of equal fame II would have been
Mi right. You may set IL down as a military max
ltu that troops will never and eau never be any
better than their commanders. The commanders
may be better soldiers than their troops but the
troops viii never be better soldiers than their
mandcrs
In this respect it always seemed TO me that fate
pursued the Eleventh CorBs with malignity In
dividually nay observation was that the men who
carried muskcts served cannon in the Union
armies were pretty much alike. They al
ways brave and effective soldiers when properly
led and handled. / think il was "A mistake to
group uRtionalites in regiments or batteries by
themselves. twas contrary to the American idea.
Take, Tor example, the Irish. Brilliant the
history OF some OF the purely Irish regiments,
think that =" race of warriors" always showed at
its best In mixed commands. In thc two batteries
/ served in, one time or another, always had
more or less lTishmen: and they were always
among the best faeu. We also had Germans and
Scnndinavinns; and did better than they.
StcWarts battery, from hrst To last, had de-
tached volunteers from the I'd. 9Th and 7th
Wis. the 10Th. 2ist, 23d. aud 35th y. "
the 10Th Ind the 2ilh Mich the fst K l. /. A
aud IN 1861 from the lst Conn and the 4th 9Th and
18th n. V III. A., together with few transferred
from Griins battery, Of the 9Th L. =, IN the Fa Of
Is6i. SO. IL will be that it a mixed COM
tnhnu OF the most pronounced Character, not less
than Is different organizations being represented
in its ranks. from Rt least six different States East
and West. / could never that there was any
difference In these men, except. perhaps that
OF the heavy artillery recruits IRte iu the
not quite up to the mark Of the veterans of the
Iron Brigade. and Patrek's Brigade. who joined in
1861 aud ls62. However, these recruits fought the
battery quite rs brRvely and well as the others
when they got "A chance so repeat that never
intended to reflect any enlisted man. / hold
opinion. amounting to conviction that the
Eleventh Corps bunglingiy commanded and
badly handled both at ChaneeilorsViile and Get
tysbuTg, aud that It's men never had "a fair chance
TO snow what they were capable OF IN either OF
those great battles. But | have no criticism to
make on any man In that corps below the rank OF
brigade commander. And in this aim confident
that many of the veteran rank and file of that
gallant bat unfortunate corps viii agree with
me. With regard TO the First Corps, 1 do not
think % needs any eulogy. There - a fact
necied with the history Of Gettysburg which have
never seen mentioned. IL j. the fact that in the
formation oil TIE army on Cemetery Ridge during =
the second and third days Gen. Hancock prac-
ucally broke up the First Corps and distributed il
along the liuc by divisions. He put Uncle Wads-
worth IN the interval between the left of the
Twelfth and the right of tie Eleventh Corps, on
tups HIN; he put Uncle john &. Robinson in the
interval between the left Of the Eleventh and the
right OF the Second Corps souih of the Cemetery
gale; and lie sent Doubleday clear down 20 hold the
position ON the len Of the Second Corps-so that
the First Corps did not act a unit after the first
day, Now, why was the First Corps distributed in
this manner? IL WAS because, in the fighting Of
the Second day IL became necessary tn patch up
the !ine with whatever troops were at hand. and
Hancock knew TINT what was lefi of the old First
Corps were men who would never flicker, no mat
ter where he put them.-AUTHoR.l
Ito b coRfiaued)