The herald., 1895-12-26

101 ,679, and closes its critical review of
the relative strength of the armies by say
ing that General Lee had at his command
on the field of battle, from first to last, an
army numbering at east 10000 of all
arms"
1t Is fact that the 151st regiment Of
Pennsylvania militia and Goth New York
fought under General Gates in Doubleday q
division. So much for the armies at Get
tysburg
We do not commend to the honest in
quirer after historical truth, Col. Dunkel-
berger's manner of estimating the strength
OF the enemy. He takes Rode's muster
roll at Carlisle, Pa, June 80, and found he
mad an aggregate present of 909S and
multiplies it by the nine divisions of the
Confederate army, and thus settles it that
the army of Lee had at Gettysburg 81 ,SS2.
(See his reply in Los Angeles HERALD, De-
cember 10, 1880 Now, he takes the ag-
gregate present and not the total effective.
The effective in the same report were
| 1928. Now, General Early commanded a
division in this fight and he reports his ag-
gregate present June 20 at 6476. Now, If
Col. Dunkelberger had taken Early's re-
port OF nearly the same date and multi
Piled 1t by nine, it would give 5S,2S4, in
stead OF 81, 1892. This proves the failacy
OF selecting any one division or brigade to
test the strength of an army.
In Colonel DunkelberRer's reply to my
article, he takes the report of General Lee,
one month after the battle of Gettysburg
when he was in Virginia, where reinforce
ments and recruits could meet him, and
quoting Lees muster roll on July st, as
53,2S6, then adds Lees losses at Gettys-
burg in order to prove that Lee must have
had 10000 at Gettysburg. Following this
same line of reasoning, Swinton, the his
giving 63,325 as his electives and his re-
port u month after the battle of Gettys-
burg, when Lee reports 4 1875, and then
argues that 81 ,2l7. the difference between
the two reports, shows the loss of Lee at
Gettysburg. (oee note, page 365, SWIM
toms Campaigns of the Army of the
Potomac.)
Were our personal respect for Colonel
Dunkelberger less, we would call this I'M
fair. Take the report OF the army of the
Potomac for July 10th, Just seven days
after the battle of Gettysburg, and the ag-
gsegate present was 1884; now add to
it 23,O49, admitted to have been lost by
strength at Gettysburg as 120,06S.
What the world wants to know is, not
the strength of either army thirty days
after the battle. but what was the avail
able strength on the day of the battle. We
asked the question in the beginning of our
reply:a." is the author of the figures
used by us as follows? Was not this the
day, of all the days in the year, when a
general, who for three days on inaccessible
heights, with 5000 men, had hardly hold
at bay an army OF 65,0OO?"
We quote, as the author of the above
figures, from book, "Field, Fort and
Fleet by NJ. Quod, who is Mr.. c. B. Lewis
of the Detroit Free Press, federal officer
and soldier. In his article on page 467 of
that volume on "Gettysburg and Its Re-
Suits" he says: "Sxty-five thousand men
had failed to drive 900 from one of the
strongest positions ever seen on a bat
tie field. That fact, and that alone,
constituted the federal victory at
Gettysburg. But would the 90 900 attack
night Lees shattered commands were be-
ing consolida ed and his lines strength.
ened. He was there and ready at day
break; but Meade would not attack. He
was there and ready at high noon, but not
a man moved to disturb him. Lee
still held half the battlefield. and was ready
to be attacked"
AS matter of fact, Gen. Ewell's corp did
not leave the field won on the Sd, till near
noon on the 5th. Lee retreated to the Po-
tomac, but finding it unfordable, while
Meade's army gathered around him, ''but
instead of vigorous attack, he ordered
his army to intrench against Lee" Field,
Fort and Fleet, page 46s).
Now a word as to the auther of Field,
Fort and Fleet.
More than forty years after the battle of
Waterloo, Victor Hugo wrote description
of the same, and it, today. is the grandest
battle scene ever writ en- of European
battle. On these pages stalked the heroes
of forty years before; there is Ney charg-
ing at the head of his cuirassiers; there is
Milhaud with his twenty-siX squares of cav
airy, charging the plateau of Mont Saint
Jean; there is the sunken road of Chain.
where, as Byron says, went down
order and horse-friend and foe
In one red burial blent.'
In the rythmic periods of this great bat
tle-drama, we can see the military salute
of General Delord, as he waved his hand,
when the English batteries opened upon
him.
NJ. Quod, the nom-de-plume of Mr.. C. B.
Lewis of the Detroit Free Press, has
painted more truthfully and graphically
the Battle of Gettysburg. In his glowing
periods, the whole scene is before us.
Picket, with his long, flowing curls, look
ing like a knight of medieval chivalry.
with sword waving in air, charging
at the head of the columns; Arm
listed and Garnett, flinging themselves
in reckless abandon on the stone walls of q
cemetery, as though they courted death,
against the brave columns of Hancock.
There throbs and pulses in every line the
steady tramp of infantry, the clash of
above the smoke and carnage, there issued
out of the battle clouds the hand of Destiny
which wrote with pen dipped in the blood
and tears of grand army the word of
doom to the Confederacy.
'Field, fort and Fleet" has not been q
popular book, simply because truth has
not been the thing most desired. Historic
falsehoods have usurped our public schools
and we have believed historic fables till
they have become part of our lives.
Lord Byron speaks in one of his most
beautiful poems of "the Pontic monarch
of old days who fed on poisons, and they
had no power to kill but were q kind of
nutriment."
Are there not millions of Americans do
ing the same thing today?
Colonel Dunkelberger says in his article:
lice crossed north of the Potomac twice;
the first time he remained thirteen days
and lost about 10000 men,"
Now, one ounce of fact is worth ton of
conjecture. What are the facts?
In the eighteen days of the Maryland
campaign, which includes Harper's Ferry,
Lee army, never larger than 10000,
fought the battles of South Mountain,
Crampton's Gap, Harper's Ferry, Antie-
tam and Shepherdstown. losing in killed,
wounded and captured 1.172, while Nc
Clellan, with an army of S7,163. lost:
killed. 1902, wounded ll,7l9, captured
13,494. total of 27,S75, against Lees
loss of 1l,l72. (See vol. / Battles and
Leaders and vol. II, page 6O3.
Colonel Dunkelberger says in his reply
that "the second timo Lee crossed the Pc
tomac he remained seventeen days and
lost 1000 men,"
If the statistics of this article do not re-
Al 81