Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-12-14


| NJ his ,auster-roll for August 1854 tsee
Serial % of the War Records. page VD.
showing l75.eN aggregate. present and
| absent: Ifi,5oi, present; and Ao2s, present
| for duty, with 736 selge-guns, and w
| fieid-pieces. 40,
| rh,s was more than Lee had-an told
| MANY OF sheridans men were at wash
| ington. Baltimore. and Chambersourg:
| But here IL the return OF what ne nad
| actually IN the field with him, showing
G.. 40. aggregate. present, with T,'os IN
fantry, ll.TS4 cavalry and ASH aruiiery-
| men. aggregate, 57.iT for duty. CSee
Serial 90 war Records. page sH)
| 2 have said that Sheridan's three IN
| fan,rv corps each outnumbered by ave-
| rage Early's whole infantry force. Here
is The proof In Serial 30 OF the War Re-
| cords. mage 81, you will find Sheridans re-
| turn OF September 10TH showing present
| for duty, 45,4s7; the Sixth Corps having
| infantry for duty, 1856; the Nineteenth
u $40, and Cooks army OF west virginia
| having 7l40: aggregate, 1855, or an ave-
| rage for each corps OF more than all OF
| Early's infantry.
| And in Ponds History. page 26I you
| will find the returns for the month of
| September, showing the Sixth Corps with
| 10. os7 infantry for duty. The Nineteenth
with 1882 infantry for duty; Crooks
army, with 1921; aggregate, S,22o' with
| the same result.
sheridan saws in his memoirs q. page
i7D: "The Confederate army at this date
(September) was about 1000 strong, ana
| consisted of Earlys own corps, with Gen
| eral Rodes Ramseur, and Gordon com
| manding its divisions. the infantry OF
| Breckinridge from Southwestern Virginia,
three battallons OF artillery. and the cav
| airy brigades OF Vaughan, Johnson, Nc
| Causland. and ImbcSen."
The statement as TO the Infantry COM
mands Is correct; but as to numbers IT
nearly doubles the force OF Early. The
latter was remarkably accurate ana re-
| liable. and he says of this period Sep
tember 49, 1860: THE Second Corps num-
bered little over 5000 muskets when
IL was detached In pursuit or Hunter, ana
IL had now been reduced to about hOo
l muskets by long and rapid marches ana
the various engagements and sklrrnisnes
| in which IL had participated. Wharton s
| Division had been reduced to about l.7vc
| muskets by the same causes. Making a
| small allowance for details and those
unfit for duty, had about $500 muskets
for duty"
Vaughan's cavalry had at this time
been sent 10 Southwest Virginia, and
such" says Early. such had been the
| loss I'm all the brigades in the various
fights and skirmishes in which they had
been engaged that the whole OF this
| cavalry now under Lomax numbered
only about 100 mounted men. Fltz Lee
| had brought with him two brigades-to-
| wit. Wickham's and Lomax's old Brigade
| NOW under Colonel Payne), numbering
| about 100 mounted men" HIarly's book
| I'D. s.. So have accepted each COM
mander's statement as 10 his own troops,
| and they abundantly sustain me-
Il In "a n w
eaualled all OF Early's infantry, and was
sometimes more than his whole army.
The returns show that Averill had In
August 6472 present for duty. and Tor
bert in his corps aggregate. 1i7Si.
This was more than Early's whole force
for duty. and more than three times our
| cavalry. And II you choose TO pursue
| the Investigation you Will ma In Serial
az and 81 OF the War Records reports
Of cavalry strength by divisions fully
demonstrating the correctness Of my
| statements.
4 I have said that Early In his cam
paign killed. wounded, and captured more
men than he had ever mustered on
| battlefield Here is the proof:
Hunter lost at Lynchburg 100, Wallace
| NJ Nonocacy lost 1.9J9. and Sheridan re-
| norts his losses at &c go. Total 1851.
Early had on his rolls 55.949 present and
L
which was not at Winchester; but with
u nresont. August 3lst. his whole infan
| Try for duty was 1A.is5.
| ,rbis was before the battles at Win
| chester and Fishers Hill and he never
| had more AT any time.
Nor aid his whole army ever equal ir
| number the casualties reported by Sheri
| dan: nor did Eariy's cavalry ever amount
TO 5000
| LOSSES IN TIIREE BATTLES.
now present the casualties Of losses
| IN the three battles of Winchester. Fish
er's Hill, AMI Cedar creek. compiled 10y
| Northumberland Fox. Of the United
states army. and given in his book o
| War Statistics, pages 5ff-5ol.
Sheridan:
Ell or Ag'
Kill Wound Mis- gre
BATTLES. ed. ed. sing. gate
snon '''.,......... CH 1883 33s 5Ol
| I-ish.r's I'm ........ 81 457 10 so
cedar Greek ......... GA 3.i30 1,J9l $50
, Aggregate ........... 1883 1850 1915 ll,2l
: Early:
, | Winchester or Ope-
! quon ................ 226 1877 1.Hs s.sl
| Fishers Hill ........ 30 30 $50 10
L
| Aggregate ...... ..... go 3,JlI 3,o05 40
Not including Early s cavalry losses.
This does not include Early's losses II
cavalry, but during all September the!
| were 60 killed and 2SS wounded, AM
. putting them at 1000. which is very eX
| cessive for the three battles, they woul(
show that Sheridan's loss in killed anC
wounded was much greater than Early
and Early's losses greater In prisoners
| yet all told for the three fights early
| aggregate loss more than 1000 less.
What such a man could have done VIII
| resources to match his genius can d
left only to inspire the Imagination.
n As 90 prisoners, Grant says. in nj
- | memoirs, that Early had lost more mel
Y killed, wounded, and captured, thal
4 | Sheridan had commanded from first Z
1 | last How such an absurd statement coul
: | have gotten into printers ink Is unac
= | countable. This is contradicted by Sheri
y dan himself, for he reports that iron
d | August !, 1861. to March /. 1850, III
Il | prisoners received by his provost-mar
a shall were about 1900. (See War Re
l. | cords Serial 81, page co., Grant forget
= | he had instructed Sheridan 70 conslde
4 | citizens under 90 years old as prisoner
= OF war, and not as citizen prisoners
o | (see Grants order OF August l6 lS5'
! | Sheridans Memoirs, first volume, pag
e 4s0. and this 1900 embraced all de
Il | serters, stragglers, furloughed soldiers o
s | Lees army, army-agents OF all kinds, an
Il | all citizens who were carried to wash
" | ington, whether soldiers or otherwise. III
= truth is patent that have made good m
4 statement that Early killed. wounded, an
" | captured from Hunter, Wallace. an
& | Sheridan more men than he could eve
Is | muster upon any battlefield against eithe
e. | Of them, and Grant has turned the trut
r | of history upside down, in manner tina
e | no one who reads It's records can explain
CRITICISMS UPON EARLY.
n To say that Early had faults is to sa
that he was human; and, as Marshal II
n renne reminds US. ito say that he mad
n | mistakes, Is 10 say that he made war
n | But even at this day it is difficult to tab
,s his problem and its resources and 50
4, where or when he might have bette
!, brought them In conjunction-the one
10 | solve the other To figure on his case 1
- | any time was to demonstrate failure; ar
- | so many heroic virtues postponed tn;
failure and glorihed 1t that / leave 1t II
" others TO search for the mistakes ar