The morning call., 1891-08-30
fHE CAVALRY ARM
OF THE SERVICE.
EhGriian'S Quarrel With Meade and
Subsequent Movement
His Victory Over Jeb .stuart-A Complete
RefutatiOn of the Story That No One
Ever Saw Dead Cavalryman,
..'-
Written for THE SUNDAY CALI.

In recalling some incidents of army life
during the Civil War, l am carried back in
memory over period of twenty-seven years.
The Union forces are across the Rapidan,
and the two great armies, Federal and Con-
federate are graphing with each other like
wild beasts amid the dense thickets ana
bewilderng mazes Of the Wilderness. The
carnage is frightful; the dead lie every
where. 'Wadsworth is killed. Grants
grasp upon his adversary does not relax.
,Spd Lee, for once, has found his master.
notwithstanding there has been terrific fight
Ing for days, the Army of the Potomac does
not fall back. If there is to be retreating
heneeforth it must be done by the CoDfed-
ates, until finally they are brought to bay at
AppOmattOX.
Our present sketch relates to the opera
tionS of the cavalry, which, when Sheridan
assumed command, numbered 1000 officers
and men. During the winter of 1868 and
1860, it had been doing picket duty for the
entire Army of the Potomac, our line ex-
tending along the Rapidan a distance of
fifty miles. Sheridan had several confer
enceS with Meade, in which he contended
that cavalry should be employed to fight
cavalry, instead of being merely an adjunct
Of the infantry, and expressed a strong de-
sire to meet the eDemy's cavalry in a gen.
eral combat. Meade did not coincide at all
with Sheridan's views as to the proper use
OF cavalr Y. yet he made the concession of
allowing the mounted men to be called in
from outpost duty, in time to recuperate
their animals little before the opening of
the spring campaign.
STORMY INTERVIEW.
On May Sth Sheridan had another stormy
Nu,eIyew with General Meade. in which he
renewed his request to be allowed to ope-
his cavalry AN ipdanan1ant
maud. assuring him that, if given chance,
he would defeat Stuart. Meade, wishing to
retain control OF the cavalry himself, asked
what then would become of the trains
sheridan, getting very little satisfaction,
lew into passion, declaring that if he
tMeade} Insisted upon giving the cavalry di-
IeciOus without consulting or notifying
lm he could henceforth command the cav
airy corps himself, for he lSheri-
der. Meade reported the substance
Of the interview TO General Grant, who
made answer as follows: IF Sheridan
thinks he can whip Jeb' Stuart tell him to
90 ont and do IT," and so a few hours later
Sheridan received the desired order for an
independent movement Of his cavalry.
His general instructions were to move
southwark, destroying the railroads and in
IeTruptlng the enemyS communications,
give battle to Stuart and damage tine Con-
- federacy as much rs possible. When in
need Of supplies lie was to proceed to Hax-
ais lAuuiuEs ul the JdlNGs. ODialn Llem
from General Butler and return to the Army
OF the Potomac On receiving the order he
sent for his division commanders. informed
them Of his plans and instructed them TO De
in .sadiness TO move the following morning.
- got off SO quietly, that several hours
elapsed before we were missed We had
strong force for offensive operations, our
cavalry numbering at least 10000 men. we'll
mounted and well equipped, together with
eight four-gun batteries of light artillery.
In order 10 have his troops well in hand and
ready Tor any emergency, Sheridan decided
Ia move his entire command on d single
road. The immense caYalcade moving in
columns Of fOurS, covered a stretch Of thir-
teen miles.
AS AN AID.
NV first employment as an aid, l re-
member. was 10 carry an order from the
head OF the column TO the rear and return to
the front again, necess itating an extra ride
OF at least twenty miles.
Our hrst days progress was like q holiday
procession. The air was musical with the
Q -.ngs Of birds and fragrant with the per-
7ume OF apple blossoms and magno olas, the
country through which we passed not hay-
ing as yet felt the devastation of war. Contra
bands hOcked to the roadside to witness the
strange spectacle, and after watching the
procession for hours, without seeing it come
TO an end, exclaimed in amazement, Where
do all youuns come from?'
Sheridan reined up at handsome country
residence, dismounted. and sat for half an
hour on the porch, while his cavalry was
filing past him. The lady of the house
tried hard to collect some army statistics
tor the benefit of the COnfederaey, but he
would not crafty her curiosity, though she
was as beautiful as Hebe. She mentioned
the circumstance of Dahlgren's stopping at
the house, when on his ill-fated expedition
the year before, and that she had offered
him glass of wine, which he declined for
fear of being poisoned. She declared that
she was the strongest kind OF a seces sioniSt,
and that If she had drop of Yankee blood
IGF h06 Gha Nr.aF a vain, lat
out.
We crossed, one after another the small
tributaries of the Mattapony, and late in
the afternoon OF the same day. Custer hay-
ing the advance, passed over the North
Anna at AndersUns Ford and had the good
co. fortune to overtake and recapture 400 Fed
eral prisoners while on their way TO Rich
mOnd under charge of guard. The joy of
the prisoners over their unexpected escape
from the horrors of captivity was un-
bounded. Occasionally they got a lift from
The cavalry, but the rest Of the time they
kept mp herOically with the moving column,
walking, running or clinging to our stirrupS
till we reached the James. We struck
the Virginia Central Railroad at Beaver
Dam Station, destroying eight or ten miles
ol railroad and telegraph lines. Our cap
lures at this place aud Ashland were three
locomotives four trains of cars, ninety
wagons, 100000 pounds Of bacon aud large
quantity OF corn meal and other supplies,
nearly all the medical stores of Lees army.
] have reason to believe that before de-
stroying the railroad Sheridan had under
consideration the project Of loading up as
many OF his men as possible On the trains
and running them at high rate of speed
into Richmond telegraphic communication
with that place having already been inter-
Tupted.
Negroes returning from the city in wood
carts informed US that the capital was but
slightly Rarrlsoned, all of the electives be-
Ing with Lee. If we had succeeded in get
ting into Richmond we would have pro-
duced sensation. OF course our first
move would have been TO iiDerate and arm
the prisoners confined in Libby and else
whete, thus adding considerable reen-
foTcement TO our numbers for future opera
i0ns. Inc scheme was rather impracti-
cable and was not seriously considered.
Our cavalry encamped that night on both
sides of the North Anna. each trooper
taking solid comfort living between n couple
Of rails with saddle for pillow, q horse
blanket for covering and souch hat drawn
over his eyes to shut out the rays of the
SnoOn'
Stuart, as soon as he found out that we
had gone on an expedition which meant
mischief to the COnfederacy, started in pur-
suit with all of his available force, num-
beTing some 5000 men. He came up with us
on the morning Of the 10th, and rather un-
CALAMITY began pitching shells into our
headquarters camp before we had time to
finish our breakfast or saddle our horses.
The Confederates were hampered q great
deal with defective ammunition. Some Of
their shells. instead of following a true
curve, had habit of turning handspriDgs
N the air and pursuing such an erratic
course that one could never tell where they
were going to land. so as to dodge theul.
Other shells endowed with an excess of
energy, passed completely over our lines,
exploding far 10 the rear, to the great ter
Tor of nOn-combatants, surgeons. chaplaIns.
teamsters and the like. Sheridan, telling
one OF his division commanders to look after
Stuart, sat down on log and dictated q