The National tribune., 1896-06-04

The Confederates relinquished th'
pursuit when Shields reached us witt
reinforcements. We marched 90 mile!
that day after the battle, and that even
ing drew rations. Our board for TIVE
days, with battle thrown in, had cost the
Government only four crackers to each
man ECONOMY on the cracker line, but
not in some other lines
By easy marches we reached Luray
on the 18th of June. Here we parted
with Gen. Shields. He had donned the
stars of Major General after the battle
Of Winchester; he dofied them after the
battle of Port Republic. His laurels
faded. His star set never to rise again.
He went to Washington and joined the
army Of malcontents-Generals out of a
job. The disintegration of his famous
division speedily followed his removal.
The First and Second Brigades were sent
to Mcclellan and fought at Malvern
Hill. The Third and Fourth were sent
to Pope's army, and fought in the battle
of Cedar Mountain.
The question of who was responsible
for the failure to burn the bridge at
Port Republic has never been satisfac-
torily answered. Shields threw the
blame on Carroll, and Carroll shoul-
dered it back on Shields. The current
report among the troops on the day OF
the failure was that Col. Daum had
prevented il, saying:
Don't burn re bridge. I'll hold it
NIT mine artillery"
In very brief space of time Stone
wall was holding both the bridge and
Daum's artillery.
Military authorities and historical
writers have greatly magnifed the inn
portance of the burning of this bridge.
Its destruction would not have seriously
impeded jackson in his retreat. nor
could it have resulted in the defeat and
capture of his army. There were sew
eral other roads by which he could have
reached the Virginia Central Railroad,
and have gotten his army to Richmond
as expeditiously and as safely as he did
by way of Port Republic. Had he been
prevented crossing the river at Port
Republic, Fremont would not have again
attacked him; and the bridge burned,
Shields could not have done so.
The battle of Port Republic, for the
numbers enpared was one of the hardest
fought battles Of the war. The Union
troops got no credit or praise for their
bravery and lighting qualities, except
from the Confederates. While this battle
added fresh laurels to Jackson's renown,
jackson did not win the battle by supe-
rior generalship; his overpowering supe-
riority in numbers gave him the victory.
Shields in his official report estimates
our numbers at $500 men. jackson
had at least 5000 on the field, and be-
tween 5000 and 1000 more near at
hand.
According to official reports our loss
in killed and wounded was 462; captured
and missing, 53S. Taking Gen. Tyler's
repertof the strength of our force $1,000
we LOST over Is per cent. of the total en-
gagged in killed and wounded. Esti-
mating on the same basis, the Confeder-
ate loss was over 1000. But as the
Confederates were the attacking party,
their per cent. of loss to the number
engaged was greater than ours. Their
actual loss was not far from 1,200. This
is Capehart's estimate We captured
and brought off 67 prisoners. At one
time we had between 800 and 400, but
like Joe's prisoner they went back to join
their friends, and, bad luck to them,
took some of their captcrs with them.
Had Shields pushed forward his other
two brigades We would have defeated
jackson. The Confederate Gen. Dick
Taylor, in his book, Destruction and
Reconstruction" says: "Shields's brave
boys preserved their organization to the
last. Had Shields's whole command
been upon the field we should have had
tough work, indeed"
The First and Second Brigades, with
their artillery and cavalry, numbered
about 1000 men. -Four thousand fresh
troops thrown on the battlefield of Port
Republic at 10 o'clock that morning
would have routed Jackson's army.