The National tribune., 1890-05-08

| agelncnt,
| THE MEN RALLIED EVERY TIME,
at tho word, whenever there was any spot or
chance or order to rally. They were mad clear
| through and quite bewidcred but the Nine
| tecnth Corps was not discouraged. a discour-
aged army does not whip its victoTs on the
same day. Here are further effusions of the
medical historian who was rolling in his
blankets while the Nineteenth Corps was fight
ing howlirg foe on three sides in the dark
ness and the fog" The hope of the Nation now
| rested upon the Sixth Corps. The
officers of the Nineteenth were with shouts
| and wild gcsticulations striving TO collect their
! disordercd commands, but with little success"
The author demonstrates his ignorance of the
battle OF Cedar Creek mp to 7 o'clock. Three
times in the first half milo of that dreadful
| retreat the writer was in rallied line and so
far as he could observe, every man-in tho
| Fourteenth certainy-obcyed orders, and stood
! IN the fraii line till the enemy, pressing round
our left and 0utflanking u.s. compelled the ofli
| GERS to order an abandonment of the position.
The Nineteenth Army Corps was beaten out
| OF IFS position Mt Cedar Creek by ovcrwhelm-
ing numbers II is not an opinion, ii is n fact,
| that this Corps. in whole or in part, was never
] overwhelmed by panic mt Cedar Creek.
! OF course members, n good many Of them, of
| this corps went TO the rear when their organi-
cations were broken TO pieces and IL is also true
| that the pike all the way to Newtown, and even
/ hcrustown, was nlentliuily decorated with
! tho Greek Cross" "Cannoncer" is simply
| absurd when he says of the regiments Of Gctty's
! Division "nOr were there any stragglcrs from
| any of these commands"
Let us now examine a little more closely this
Rock of Cedar Creek" And, rs Cannouecr"
/ has made Gctty's Division so prominent, l will
| not neglect It, To begin with | will say that
! there were probably few better divisions In all
! the Union armies than Gctty's. No honorable
veteran can speak one word in disparaEcmcnt
/ OF its heroic achievements. j will ConCcdc
| that il was the best division in Sheridan's
army. After il got to work on that October
morning its vim and deeds were uncxception-
! able ! am not abo to see how any troops
could have achieved more. Gen. Getty him
! self-oxceptinE Sheridan performed tho finest
! feat OF gCneralship on that field. IL was he
! who selected the final line, aud on that line
/ Sheridan rallied the army. Every veteran of
/ the Shenandoah will lift his cap aud cheer for
what Getty and his men did after 8 o'clock
/ that day. Yet raise grave issue with the
! Sixth Corps and with Gettys Division in par
/ ticular. The reader must bear in mind the
/ fact that the Sixth Corps was not surprised at
| Cedar Creek. In fact this corps had n warning
which tho other corps did not hear. ! again
quote Col Walker:
"Getty's Division, two miles TO the right of
Crook, heard all this firing with astonishmcnt
simply. We could only suppose that the attack
was i'll front. for we did not dream that tho
position could be turned oil the left, and we
expected the easy repulse Of the enemy; still
we instantly struck tents. packed lluapsacks
formed our lines, aud were ready TO move when
called upon
Let this last fact stated by Col. Walker be
horne in mind The Union strategy Of that
morning centercd on the pike. The rebels
kept tapping TO our left, endeavoring TO crowd
US of the pike. If we coud get ard hold that
pike we had them sure fora conclusive setback
The tactics were simple enough-for tho Sixth
Corps,-and there was time enough. The fight
began Mt 5 o'clock | wrto with Sheridan's
official chart before me- When Kershaw opened
the ball he was two and one.half miles from
the Sixth Corps. As the battle went Getty's
Division was three -inuTths of a mile 20 the rear
of the other divisions Of its corps. At ESQ -.
M, Gordon was at Coolcy's house. one and one
fourth miles from tho pike Al o'clock
Getty's Division was Just 1000 feet from tho
pike. Why. in MI the time that 10 had, did II
not move by the left flank aud gain that pike
1t was the one thing. the only thing for 10 To
do in tho outstarf Now let us see what WAS
done. I'm two and one.h half hours kershaw
fought two and one half miles aud gained the
position of the Sixth Corps. Gordon fought
one aud three fourths miles IN one hour aud
gained the pike. The hour was then 30
What had Getty's Division done? At Z3O
Getty's Division had moved 1900 feet 10 the
left. and about 500 feet 20 tho front Of SIS
original position. 1t did not reach the pike.
This division had until 7:30 90 move four.hfths
Of mile. and gain "A commanding eminence
for artillery rs well as infantry. Had the Sixth
Corps obtained this position Wharton could
never have been thrown in on Gordon's right,
and the typographical aud strategic advantage
would have been with us. There need be- no
controversy side over the struggle for
Cemetery Hill ftho hill west of Middlctown,
which was the second position of Getty's D-
visjon.)
"Cannonccr quotes approyineIy the tcsti-
inony Of Gen. Early, lie must be ignorant OF
THE CONDITION or GIN. EARLY
AT $50 on the morning Of that battle. have
had, since tho war, two long interviews with
Gen. Gordon. in which the phases of ths fight
We're thoroughly canyassed. lie admits that
the splendid fighting of the Nineteenth Corps
terribly hindercd his advance, aud he comedies
that 10 the opposition Of this corps was due
their failure lie pleaded with Gen. Early for
orders 10 the Chief Of Artillery 10 mass all their
guns on the knoll which have stated Gettys
Division ought TO have occupied Gordon pro.
tested against putting IN the infantry against
the batteries on Cemetery Ridge. iIu eIn phatic-
ally denies that the rebel army WAS demOral-
lied 10y the plumber of the Union camps. IL
cannot be fairly claimed that Barly'E failure 10
advance was due 20 any early fighting oi the
Sixth Corps. Let "a Sixth Corps authority Col. |
Walker testify:
The blame rests upon himself Early for
ID was truly sad state Of discipline which could
not keep together in tho flush OF victory "A
sufficient number of men 10 follow up "A dis /
organized retreat; his gallant army was not
alone ia fault for this shameful state of affairs
which he reprobates 80 bitterly"
] now come TO what Cann0neer says about
Gen. sheridan:
:" have noticed that everybody since the |
war entertains the idea that at the time Gen |
Sheridan arrived on the ground at Cedar Creek |
he found tho whole army ia state of utter
r0ni and that he rallied il only by most her |
cnlcan personal exertions, aud, having rallied |
the troops, personally led them in AN irrcsisti-
bic charge against the enemy"
" Everybody" " is q strong word ] will hum
bly, testify that / have not noticed that any- |
body "enteTtains the idea that at the time |
Gen. Sheridan arrived on the ground at Cedar |
Creek he found the whole army in a state of |
uticr r1ut." ! confess that my reading has !
been much more limited than "Canuonoer's" |
and have on my shelves only about 80 volumes |
bearing Cedar Creek. Yet ! challenge him |
10 furnish me one reputable authority for the |
above statement. ] supposed that everyone
pretending 10 be cOnversant with the facts |
understood that the rebel army was at "A stand. |
still, and that the Sixth aud Nineteenth Curps |
minus big food Of straggers, were holding |
positions under orders.
On question Of notable fact am still moro |
surprised at one Of "Cannoneor's" assertions |
lie says, referring 10 the Sixth Corps "Gen |
Aia.FI "A s,t . A