The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1892-06-02
[From the New York World. !

Comparative Numbers in Some Famous
Battles.
[From the New York World.
The appended article comes from a
correspondent at Los Angeles, CAL,
who is evidently Of strong southern
sympathies and is stirred up by what he
considers an Unjust ticc done to The gal
liant men who fought to dismcmbcr this
union. Many impartial persons, indeed,
must have wondered why it was that
armies recruited from a population Of
2+,0UO,O0O usually found the armies
drawn from Il population Of 5000, 900
overwhelming in numbers. The colec-
ton OF statistics bearing on this point
made by the Worlds correspondent ls
valuable and his auccdotc of Mr.. I'm
coin is pleasing:
The superior number" Of the Con-
lcderatcs figure largely in the reports Of
nearly all the great battles. Grant at
Shiloh says he fought against '.oycr-
whelming numbers" Mcclellan at
Richmond says he fought against great
odds;" kcycs in his report Of battles
around Richmond says, "Thc Contcdcr-
ates ouinumbel CT us during greater
part OF the day four to One;n Rosecl ans
says at Stone River he fought against
'superior numbers" and at Chckamau-
ga he says his army withdrew from the
field 'in the face Of overpowering num-
bers;" McClclnand at Shiloh said that
inc Union forces were probably less
than one half the enemy" and Pope
with his usual modestv at the second
Bull Run speaks of the "cnormOusly
superior force of the enemy"
The stereotypcd report OF overwhclm-
ing and oycrpowcring numbers which
came up from every lost battle field
called out from Mr.. Lincoln one of his
best anecdotes. An old Illinois friend
OF Mr.. Lincoln, who had two sons in the
Army OF the Potomac, called to see him
nL the white house in the summer of
1902, and, feeling parental solicitudc
about the safety of his sons and their
chances OF success, asked Mr.. Lincoln
how many men he thought jeff Davis
had III the field. Lincoln responded
that JEFF Davis had 1900, 900 men in
the field. This startled the Old man.
Alter rcgaining his composure he asked
MIR. Lincoln how he knew this fact. Mr..
Lincoln replied:
VI have ,00O, 900 men in the field and
whenever one Of my generals gets
whipped down In Virginia he always
says that the rebels had three men to
bis one. Yes, sir, / have ,OOO, 900 in
the field and jeff Davis has 5000 OOO.n
In order to properly discuss the ques-
ton, "Dld the Fcdcrals fight against
superior numbers?" il is necessary to
compare the resources of the two gov
crnments. The seeding States in 1861
Lad, in round numbers, q population of
100000. about 1000. 900 of which
were slaves. The non-secedng States
had population of 24,000,O0O. This
gave the Union side about three to one
OF the whole population. The Conled-
crate States had a scaboard from the
Potomac TO the mouth Of the Rio Grandc
i'll Texas, and having no navy, they
were exposed as mucl to attacks by sea
as by land.
There were enlisted IN the Federal
army during the war 2,77S, 3O4 soldiers
which was about - per cent. of her
populations; while, according to + ederal
statistics, the enrolment IN the Confed-
crate army was 100000 which was
about Il per cent. of the population.
Inc Conlederatcs, on the estimates
made by General Wright. agent Tor the
collection of Confederate statistics, deny
that they ever had G90,0 enrolled, as
the army of the Contedcracy, "abscnt
and present." was as follows, for each
year: January, 1862, 2lS,OIl; Janu-
ary, 1858, lG5 ,5S4; January, 1864, H.
7Sl, January. 1865, 4G9, ,G75-(vol. iv.
"Battles and Leaders," y. 1GS)
Taking the Federal enlistment at .
IIS,3Ol, and the number Of Fcdcrals on
the pay roll May |, 1865, at |, l,O0O,5lG.
there would be about 81 per cent. ofthe
enlistment present. This would give,
on the same basis, about 222 ,O0U Con.
ledcrates under arms. This would pre-
serve the ratio of COO, 600 to 2,T1H, ,3O3
enllstmcnts, and The general ratio of
population, 100000 to 2l,0OO, 600.
The difference between the Confederate
reports OF January |, lSG5--135, ,G75-
and the number parolcd after the surrcn-
der--l74, ,O00--is accounted for by the
heavy losses Of the Ccnfetlerates by
death and desertion between January =,
1865, and the date Of parole.
Shiloh was the first great battle be
tween the opposing armies OF the West
Grant was there with the veterans of
Donelson and Henry. Sherman, with
hls splendid division on the right, while |
TO his left were NJ cClelnand, Prenti:s,
Wallace, (W. II. L..) Hurlbut and |
Stuart, with the division OF Lew Wal
lace only five miles away, and Nelson's
division Of the army of the Ohio across
the river at Savannah, not more than
seven miles from the field of battle.
Albert SlGneY Johnston, the Conled-
eraIe commander, began forming his
line OF battle the day before about noon.
ana by p. m. of the 9Th his line WAS
ready for action, though on account of
The lateness OF the hour the battle was
postponed till the next morning. At S
o'clock the next morning, April 9th,
1862, the battle opened by an assault
along the entire Federal front with the
corps OF Hardee, Bragg and Polk.
Here is the strength OF General
Grants amy as con- piled by the war
department, giving the last returns of
M .he various commands made just before
lhe battle: Grants army-present for
duty, 1924; total present, 58,O52.
Deducting Lew Wallace's division Of