Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-08-29

VIRGINIA BATTLEFlELDS.
 in tho military hospital at Evansville, Ind. In the COnValrScrnt ward with mo were tiVO Confederate soldiers, survivors of the dozen brought from shiloh, all the rest having died. AS We read the daily papers and talked over thoSr battles around Rich mond they were in high spirits and 1 was sunk in gloom. How very different that case looks now! It is an unQueStionablo fact that Ice attacked rcCklCssly, as if in contempt of his adversary, and in every battle Mcclellan inflicted far moro damage than he suffered. If we had only known that the Confcdrracy was to Inc worn out rather than conquered, wr should havc re- alizCd that th" pr"ncsS wilS oven thcn rap idly going Un.
 Campaign Histories.
 One mans opinion is of lttlo COnSe- qucnrc, hut the history of tho processes by which that opinion was formed possesses at least a psychological value, and sus- pcct that as it is with mo so it has been with Somc millions of Americans. l read the history of the first campaign around this city uS it was unfultlrd daily in 1S62, and in lSi4 read of the second as tho ir- regular mails brought the daily history to our camp in Alabama, but this timr a per sonal grief was the greatest element in my dcjcrtion, for in the assaults on the bloody
 
 Ann Arhnr were killed, aud my youngest brother, aged hut r. and sergeant in tho First Mlchi-;!n sharp>huutCrS, received his | mortal wound. Ever after until this year l uCNtr could summon the rat iCnCc tn read a detailed history of il, though 1 did read Grant = and Mrt 'Irilun' personal accounts, neither of which do l diguify with the l name uf hiStu"N.
 Thirty three years after Mcclellan and I a detail of their movements hrrrabuut | would h, ,inllsrdruAl1lr. The most to bc | expected k l!at he should note the local l features and present tUdays conditions | and notice especially tho wonderful con trl~tS in many respects and thr.still moro wonderful samrnr~S in others. NrVcrthe- | less som" bits of history will be necessary | to the understanding even of nero notes of | travel. Nature of course rvmuins almost unchanged. The Chirkahuminy is still l the same long swamp with a narrow chan | mel uf stu .Mi~h current in the center, forming splendid wet ditch defense rx- actly far enough in front of Richmond. | The region through which Mcclellan made | what he called change of base and his | critics call retreat may be described ill | three StrtiunS-tirst, tho ChickahOminy | swamp and drnScly timhCrcd highlands | south of it; second, the great white oak l swamp Ntl 'RtsiNtNllit!I lbN TluSb'S Ol solid land and. ll>t. the open. half prairie country about Malvern hill. As McClcl- | lan'S main iil:r of march was almost cx- l act lN Strai!sit south, and as the roads from | RiChIunHd rUI east, mort th"a>t and south | east like thr sI"l,r> Uf wheel, il is plain | to he reader Mitl,uut a map that the Con l fCdrratrS at r;i, h successive point could strili,, the Fr,lr~al~ in funk. Now, when | this iS rrln"nhvrrd and we consider in nd ,1i T. l perfect success, siNr,i every one of their | 5,uuU wa.g"H> and 3,h0U beef cattle and in | every l;,rt!" iuliir,rd far more loss than | they suffered, surely we must conclude | that thu 2.,'lcrnl>hip Was brilliant. It was, however,, rhr"Iy the rrncral>hip of the corps cnlnIlaudrre
 | Losses In Battle.
 read, a, aforesaid, tho history as it un- | folded and thr personal statements of tho tw" Federal commanders, but during | thCSr two uluuthS of trampiHg I have read two alleged full histories, and am happy to sny that any reader can get any kind of a history tu suit his politics ur old time | prrjuGirn~. For an extreme pro Mcclellan history lhat generals own narrative will do, for an rNtrvlno anti-McClrllan narra- tive th" best is found in Niculay and Hay S Life of Lincoln" " and for tnlcrably fair and impartial account Swinton'S bouk WlIl Oh, or Rl least Will litSS luE 8 Stp%l effort ill that direction. At his point q curious di~ r'HHucy must be noted in the figures which purlurt to be official. Add tho separate lns~,'- of each battle, and they l by far exceed the reported total of the campaign, yet both may be correct. The explanation is that at least 40 per cent of those reported wounded recovered in few weeks and many of those reported missing reached their commands again. As an il- lustratiun. SAW private soldier of the 1hirty-tirst Indiana fall in the battlo of Fort Donrl~on, shot in the center of the face, tho bullet coming out at the back of his neck. He Was set down in tho list as mortally wounded, but in three months was able for duty. was thrCo times moro before the war closed included in the list of wounded and k still living in Tcrrc Hautc in fair health, though n badly dis | figured citizen.
 From War to Agriculture.
 Though the aggregate of the separate re- ] ports would show that from the Wilderness to Five Forks, inclusive, Grant lost within , Nslly wounded and permanently disabled
 would certainly not make moro than hal
 that number. Similarly it is roughly stat cd that Mcclellan reached the James rivel
 with a loss of 19, GOO men and inflicted
 
 final returns were made it appeared tha . McClellan's net or absolute loss was only
 15,2 249 and that of the Confederates n littl
 over 19, 900. To illustrate how little Amer : jeans knew of war even at the end of l.
 months of it, it only remains to add tha
 Richmond was from q true military stand , point moro in danger from the Army Q ' the Potomac on the James than on tn
 Chickahomipy, and yet the north grieve'
 as over a great defeat and Jefferson Davis
 though his forces had really been dcfcatet
 in every one of tho seven days battles, is n sued proclamation of thanksgiving while the whole south went wild with joy
 Verify, it took Us Q long time to learn ou business.
 . The face of nature, as I said is compar |. Rtively unchanged, but in everything els
 the contrast is indeed remarkable In al tho region just north of the ChiCkahomin, ; and for many miles in any direction iron 1 Cold HarbOr and Mechanicsville at leas !. one-third of the people are northern mel I who have come in since the war and ar nearly all engaged in wha$ they cal
 trucking" for tho Richmond market
 Land is very cheap and for a few purpose F very good. Immense crops of sweet pota
 toes are raised, from 900 to 300 bushels pc
 acre, not half that of Irish potatoes 3 EeTtv huEhsls of corn py ten of wheat ar