The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-04-18
BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.
4 REPLY 10 cor. JOHN y. MOSBI's
ARGUMENT.
A Writer Contends that His Statements
Are At Variance With Gen, Lee's Ke-
ports of the Battle.
To the Editor of The Times:

lines "LOngstlcet ana stuart inc otn'r
in that Of March 2ist, headed, The
Charge Against Stuart"
r,,'n ot. ,nese were written on the same
line OF argument. the object OF which was
10 show. not only that General Stuart did
nor disobey orders when he moved around
the rear OF Rockers army and passed
between il and Washington and basu-
more but also that the route ne TOOK was
the shortest from the point or staruhs
to the right OF kwells Corps That ne bS
taking 1t drew after him the greater part
OF HoOkcr's cavalry, gave great scare
captured valuable train, ana did otneT
damage: and finally that General Lee
plans were not in any wise inteIleie'
with by II. The latter clause IS the on4y
part Of the whole 10 which any exception
can be- taken. and 10 establish that point
is the leading object OF the two communi-
cations.
II is well here to call attention 10 OIL
ciai reports. That OF General Stuart lp
GiD giNeI a fun and graphic account OF
his movements from their inception 10
| bis arrival at Gettysburg. lie states that
| he suggested the plan 10 the COMMANDING
general. ard he wrote me. authorizing
| this move II / deemed It practicable"
| General Lee. IN his report (p. 300, writes;
| "In that event Uookers crossing the
river. General Stuart was directed TO
move into Maryland. crossing the PO-
tomdc east or west Of the Blue Ridge, as
| in his Judgment should be best. and take
position on the right Of our column as II
| advanced" So that the only question
worthy Of discussion is whether General
| Lee was embarrassed in his operations by
the prolonged absence Of Stuart. The
| other questions are fully determined 10y
| the positive testimony Of both Generals
i | aft1 nd al 4
col. MOSBTS ARGUMENT.
To establish that General Lees plans
were not dlsarraneed by the absence OF
| the cavalry. ! think Col. Mosby has
| adopted a line Of argument and conduct
| cd IL. 10 use his own words. IN arraign-
mont of another: Tie writes history on
| the a priOri principle Of the aucient PHI
losOphers. who never went outside OF
their own consciousness TO inquire about
| facts. IL is an exercise Of Imagination
not Of memory; II he runs up against
| fact. then, ike a battery or a line Of bat
| Tie that got i'm hts way, so much the worse
for the fact" That such is the character
Of his argument / will attempt 10 demon
| stjate and in order TO do so. Will refresh
! the memary OF those who have read the
articles hy tracing the line Of the argu-
meat. quoting extensively from them, be-
cause they are 50 handsomely expressed
by the Colonel that feel sure no reader
VIII be bored by the re-reading.
quote from the letter of March 21st:
Since writing my reply TO the criu-
cisms on the management of the cavalry
IN the Gettysburg campaign by General
Longstreet in his book ard by Col. Chas
Marshall in his address at the Lee ban
quet. I have discovered additional evil
dence which shows that the account
they gave Of the evolution OF ,he battle
Is as devoid OF historical truth as the
hctions of Swift and Defoe The .naccu-
racy of their statements is proof of the
wisdom Of the celebrated statute OF
Charles IT, that excludes all evidence Of
certain transactions that rest on the Slip
perry memory OF witnesses l shall state
nothing that the record does not YER
ify-(?)- General LOngstreet claims fer
his spy the credit Of bringing about the
catastrophe al Gettysburg u can
be demonstrated that the story Is fable
and rests on as shadOwy foundations as
the venerable legend Of the Wandering
jew"
lie then gives "the events prior 10 the
night upon which ~the spy makes las
appearance upon the stage TO establish
BY presumptve evidence that Lee at that
time knew that Hooker had crossed TIE
river. and consequently did not require
that fact for him, and that the appear
ance OF the spy was unnecessary. Ills
fIst presumption IS IN these words: "No
one who knows Jones Will believe that
when Hooker passed along his front and
crossed the Potomac at Edwards Ferry,
i'm Loudoun. that he did not promptly in
form Geuelai LOEpstIeet 81 IL. ] have
shown tina. he Obeyed a part OF Stuarrs
orders in sending CaValfy 10 CharlestOwn
so as 10 have an Intermediate post be
tween him and Lonlatreet. As he exc
Cutcd part the presumption is that be
executed an lie then quotes from Gen
eral Lees letters of 22d and sd, address
ed the one TO Stuart and the other 20
M Davis. &c show that at that time Gen
oYal Lee expected Hooker TO cross the
river. and was apprehensive lest he
should get over first Again he states
that Hooker knew that Lee had crossed
on the 2Cth. Hooker relied for inlOr-
nation mainly on his signal officers
Longstreet and Hin had signal officers
and. IL is presumed. should have known
as much Of Hookcr's movements as Hook
or knew Of theirs. Still again: "a great
many men with Lee We're from that re-
gion, and had a local knowledge of the
country" Thus he considered he had es-
tablished that General Lee, when he
reached Chambersburg. did know that
Hooker had crossed the river. IF in
their simplicity these generals, Long
street and Hill General Lee was with
them, allowed an army of a hundred
thousand men TO camp within a few miles
of them without discovering it, they
might keep a Kindergarten. bat are not
lit 90 command an army corps. Yet that
is what Col. Marshall asks US to believe.
Credat judacus apollo non ego"
He says that because he did not hear
from Stuart, General Lee thought that
Hooker was still south Of the Potomac.
But If General Lee had thought SO. he
would have marched direct 10 Washing
ton instead of going north. lie would
have captured the national capital
In this way he would have ended the war
I'm a clap Of thunder" ] am sorry that
the fear Of lengthening this letter pre-
vents me from giving his speculations III
fun.
THE RECORDS
Now the Colonel returns to the story Of
the spy" but before doing SO, however,
he at once dispOses Of Col. Marshalls
statement that General Lee now June
2Sth) decided upon d heroic measure the
capture OF Harrisburg. by positive denial
Of it's truth ana extensive ridicule of such
an idea Yet General Lee in his report
p 800 writes: Preparations We're now
made TO advance upon Harrisburg and
that "the advance upon Harrisburg was
arrested" etc. in his later report. he
writes (p. 3l6): 1t was expected that as
soon as the Federal army should cross
the Potomac General Stuart would give